(A/N: SURPRISE! A new chapter! I honestly didn't expect this chapter to be a full-fledged chapter, honestly. This chapter seems like something abnormal, but I left a hint in chapter 3 for what this Chapter would be about. Let's see if you could remember it before it hits you in the face. Anyways, I'll keep this brief and enjoy!)

(A/N: One last thing. MUSIC! There's gonna be three, so this is gonna be a doozy. I will leave asterisks (*) throughout the story. (*) To start song, (**) to cut off or end song.

The first one: "Heroes Forge Ahead" composed by Masayoshi Soken; SPOILER! Don't watch the video from YouTube because there are some major spoilers to the Endwalker story.

Second one: "Prison Labor" composed by Shoji Meguro; Persona 5 Royal. Yeah, Persona have some great tracks. Although, there will be a pause in the middle of the song that I want you to do. I'll notify you with an ^ to stop and to continue the song.

Third one: Heroic Desire; you people already know this one.)

Chapter 4

25 minutes ago...

Bell Cranel was in a hurry. He kept to the rooftops so he could search both high and low for Lefiya. He was searching everywhere for Lefiya but she was nowhere to be found. With each passing minute, Bell would get more and more anxious because she acted in a new way that he had never seen from her before. Unfortunately, the plan had backfired, and he was aware that it did the opposite of what they had hoped for. He also knew that Lefiya would be in a more precarious state of mind. Part of him cursed himself for going along with the plan in the first place; he should've known that this would've had the opposite effect on her.

As minutes passed by, he was wearing himself down by running all over the northwestern part of Orario and exerting his energy. He didn't want to give up or take a break because it would be time wasted. He wouldn't know what could happen within all that time lost. Many things had popped into Bell's mind as it scared him from taking any rest.

He wasn't finding Lefiya anywhere and now he was starting to visibly panic. His mind wouldn't calm down and his heartbeat started to beat through his own chest. He didn't want anything to happen to her and he was desperate enough to do anything to get to her.

Suddenly, a voice calls out to him in the middle of the night. It was a familiar voice that he can remember.

Bell stops in his tracks.

"Hey, Tomato Boy!"

Bell looked in the direction of the voice and saw a recognizable shadow. The shadow within the darkness jumps out at him as Bell was finally able to see that it was Bete Loga from the Loki Familia. Bete stood in front of Bell with his usual laid-back slouch and had an aloof vibe around him.

Bell had mixed feelings about seeing him right now, but he didn't have many options since he was desperate.

"Mr. Bete. Thank Gods you're here! Have you seen Ms. Lefiya around?", Bell asked Bete.

Bete didn't say much but he sized up Bell. Bell noticed Bete looking at him with a analytical glare. It was filled with intensity, scorn, but curiosity as well.

Bete grunted finally as he asked, "Why does it matter, Tomato Boy."

The "Tomato Boy" comment didn't really bother Bell at all, and he explains the situation clearly with Bete.

At the end, Bete replied with a condescending smirk.

"Let that weakling despair for all that I care for. If she can't bounce back from this, then she deserves to kill herself. At the very least, she won't be a burden on me and my Familia!" Bete was starting off before he was interrupted by the only other person in the vicinity.

1*"Bete," Bell begins with a stern expression in his face and passion in his eyes, "She is part of your Familia; how could you say that about her?"

"Hoh?! Why does it matter? She was a weakling to begin with!"

"That doesn't matter! Weakling or not, we all get stronger one way or another, and this is a way of getting stronger as well! If she can't do this alone, then it is your job as a Familia member to help her out so that she can be stronger than she once was!"

"Weaklings either sink or swim on their own. If they can't handle a situation from their own strength alone, then they shouldn't be cut out for this type of life that we live! If something like this will beat them down and they can't get back up from this, then they aren't cut out for this type of life that we live! In this world, it's a dog-eat-dog type of world, where the weak die and the strong come out on top. When you get close to those who are weaker than you, then you learn that you'll eventually lose those weaklings that you cared about in the first place!", Bete got into Bell's personal space as Bete poked Bell on his shoulder for dramatic intensity.

Bell could sense that this was getting into personal territory, and he had to tread carefully about what he had to say next.

"You lose the people that you care for because you never took the time to try to help them get stronger," Bell starts off, "If you'd given more time to help each other to become stronger together then you would've never lost those people in the first place. Believe it or not, friendship is a form of strength by its own rights. There are things that not even you, yourself, can do by yourself! And that's where friendship comes in, others that you can rely on and those who rely on you will help you, when it matters the most."

Bete could see the intense passion of his beliefs in his eyes.

"Never leave those who are important to you behind! Even if you think that they would be worthless or if they're weaklings; they can still do great things if you teach them and nurture them!", Bell started to scream out his heart, "It's not them who are weak, it's you! If you can't help and save your own Familia members, then you won't be able to become stronger. There's a limit to everyone, and it's only by helping each other can we break our limits and get stronger!"

Bell pushed back Bete with all his strength as a Level 4. He was barely able to push Bete as he took a few steps back from Bell's shove. Bete was feeling two feelings: Anger and Confoundment. Bete could see the look in Bell's eyes; there was a fire that was lit in them. That fire was something that Bete had never seen anyone show to him; the only time he had seen that was when Bell fought against the minotaur in the Dungeon. That was when it clicked in Bete's mind; he realized what Ais was feeling, why Ais was so secretly infatuated with Bell, and the reason why he couldn't stop watching Bell that one fight against the minotaur.

1**Bete wanted to see Bell's resolve.

Bete stood there for a second before he started to slowly crawl into a hysterical laughing fit. Bell was confused as to why Bete was laughing like a madman, but he politely waited until Bete was finished with his laughing.

Eventually, Bete was finished with all his laughter, and he finally faced Bell in a fighting pose.

"Show me this strength that you talk about," Was the only thing that Bete said.

This took Bell by surprise as he had no time to figure out why he said that.

2*Bete took the initiative and dashed forward towards Bell.

Bete threw an overhead dive kick at Bell. Bell barely saw what was going on as the kick swung horizontally downwards above his head. His instincts took over as he dodged the first strike Bete threw against Bell. Bell rolled away from Bete as Bete continued his attack against Bell.

Bell had just recovered from his roll as Bete threw a roundhouse kick at Bell with great speed. Bell had no choice but to block the attack. Bell instinctively blocked the force of Bete's kick with his right forearm as he used his left hand to grab the heel of the foot from Bete's kick and tried to spin Bete's body. Bete was too strong to let this happen, and Bell knew this as well. Instead, Bell threw the foot in the same direction of the attack, but Bell had dodged the foot once more as he took that opportunity to gain distance from Bete.

Bete brought himself back into his original fighting stance that he started the fight with.

"Come on, Rabbit Boy! You were talking all that smack earlier, but now you can't seem to back up that weak preaching that you just did! Fight me, or you'll die right here right now! Better yet, Lefiya will die because of your weak ass!", Bete instigated Bell.

Bell knew that Bete was right. He needed to back up his claim, his dignity, and his beliefs. But more importantly, he needed to end this fight as soon as possible to find Lefiya! He can't waste time!

Bell grabbed all his courage and dignity and charged at Bete.

Bete smirked at the brave attempt from Bell.

Bell was slow and he had no weapon, so he had to rely more on tactics, skills, and his magic to win the fight. Bell thought of a hero as he used this to charge his Argonaut skill. The duration of the charge was a few seconds as the charge went to his right leg as he jumped into the air and copied the first attack that Bete did against him. Bete blocked the attack from Bell except the attack was strong enough to push Bete back a few milimeders from where he originally stood.

Bete was surprised by the strength of the kick. It was a lot stronger than he anticipated, it almost damaged him, and couldn't be negated with his own boots. Bete smirked as he was starting to get excited. Bell didn't give him any room for a breather though as he decided to keep on the offensive against Bete. Bell made another charge with his skill, but this time it was just a measly second of a charge. The charge went into his foot as Bell kicked off the same foot and flashed in front of Bete before Bete's eyes. When Bell showed up in Bete's vision once more, he was right in front of Bete as he was unprepared for the sudden rush from Bell.

Bell brought his right hand forward and casted his famous spell twice, "Firebolt, FIREBOLT!"

Two electrically charged fireballs were thrown towards Bete's chest as Bete had no choice but to take on the magic that was cast head on. There was smoke that was left from the blasts as Bete was thrown back a few more milimeders. As the smoke dissipated, it was shown that Bete didn't really take too much damage, except for his clothes being singed a little bit.

Bete shook off the attack like nothing ever happened.

Bete looked up at Bell with an even bigger smirk on his face.

"Not bad Rabbit Foot," He started off with satisfaction on his face, "I can finally see Ais' infatuation with you."

This made Bell blush a decent amount, but he was still on guard against Bete.

Bete casually walked to his right as Bell kept his stance but followed the direction that Bete walked. Both guys walked around in a circle once before stopping. They were few meders away from each other as Bell kept his guard against Bete, and Bete brought himself back to his fighting stance again.

Bete gave a small chuckle, "I guess it's time to get a bit serious."

Before now, Bete was letting Bell of easy by holding back a lot, since he was a level 6 adventurer against a level 4 adventurer. He didn't truly want to kill Bell Cranel off; his threat about killing him was a bluff. Especially since it would both saddened and angered most of his Familia, but he also didn't want to know what Ais would do to Bete for killing her little pet. Although now that little pet didn't seem like a little pet anymore.

He saw just about everything.

He was watching his Familia and their attempts to revive Lefiya from her deep spiral of despair. He saw how the rest of the Familia, including Loki herself, would visit her to try to bring her back to her former self. When he saw that nobody could bring her out of her current state, he took a chance himself and paid her a visit. Nothing worked though; as she was non-responsive to just about anything he threw at her. At first, he threw harsh comments about her and, even worse, about that monster-thing, but nothing worked. It wasn't until after that that Bete tried a nicer and more caring approach. He wasn't used to it, but he would try at least; when it didn't work though, he would follow the others, in secret, to see if they could do anything for her. He watched the whole plan unfold; when the whole plan came crumbling down, he quickly followed Lefiya to the perimeter wall at the edge of Orario.

Even though he showed that he didn't care about his Familia really, somewhere deep within his soul, he truly did care about his Familia. He cared to a minimal point in his own little ways, he was willing to help them out. Otherwise, why would he be in the Loki Familia.

When Bell was preaching earlier, he didn't really care about what he was spewing on about. Although, when Bell called Bete weak, Bete smiled. It was the first time that Bete was called weak without being threatened. Sadly though, Bete didn't completely tune Bell out; he still listened to what he had to say, and some of the stuff that he said had some merit to them about Bete. That's a story for another person to tell though.

If he thought and saw something special about Bell, then he would tell Bell where Lefiya is currently at.

At this point, Bete did see something from Bell, but he wanted to finish the fight against Bell first.

Bete began to motivate himself as he started to feel the passion of the fight. Bell could see that Bete was starting to amp himself ready for a fight.

"You better not disappoint me, Rabbit boy," was the last thing Bete said before disappearing from Bell's vision.

Suddenly, Bete reappeared right behind Bell as he was still looking at Bete's previous location. Bell finally felt his overwhelming presence from Bete behind him.

Bete threw another roundhouse kick aimed at Bell's head, before it was narrowly dodged by Bell as he ducked underneath the kick. Bete spun once before he brought his right foot down and bounced once more to deliver a somersault kick. Bell saw the kick coming and dodged backwards to gain more distance away from Bete. Bete misses and lands on his feet and turns around to quickly face Bell once more.

Bell started to charge his Argonaut skill once more to his feet as he shot a few firebolts at Bete. Bete was ready for the shots before he raised his right foot and the shin guard of Bete's right leg had absorbed the firebolt. Bell was surprised and amazed at Bete's magical-absorbing shin guards as Bell had never seen anything like that in his time in Orario. Bete smirked as he threw a kick from a distance.

The kick induced a lightning enchanted flame. The flame didn't travel that far as the reach was close to Bete, but the lightning was quick and accurate to Bell's surprise. The lightning had struck Bell square in the chest quickly stunning him in his place. It took Bell a few seconds before being able to react as he was stunned, and Bete took this opportunity to make his advance against Bell. Bete quickly flew through the flames and gut-punched Bell in his solar plexus.

The punch had knocked the wind out of Bell's lunges as he was lifted about an inch or two off the roof before coming down on his feet. Bell couldn't breathe as his diaphragm was bruised from the punch and made Bell fall to his knees and lose his Argonaut charge. Bete took this chance to grab Bell by his white hair and brought Bell to his feet. It gave Bell a second to stand before he was harshly kicked off the roof and into a nearby alleyway.

When Bell fell into the concrete of the alleyway, the pressure of the impact made a slight crater on the floor. Bete followed Bell as he made an impact on the floor and Bell also slid further as there was still some more kinetic energy left from the kick. Bell was still stunned from the kick that Bete gave him. There wasn't anybody to see the fall or to witness them in conflict.

Bete walked up to Bell and picked him up from the ground and suspended him in the air with his shirt.

"Pathetic. Weak," Bete said out loud in disgust by how weak Bell still was.

Bete dropped him onto his feet before throwing punch after punch in Bell's face. He kept slugging at Bell as Bell was taking the punches, but not falling from them. He was able to breathe again thanks to the beating that Bete was currently giving Bell.

The face. The face. The stomach. The face, again. The left leg.

Bete was throwing strike after strike with his fist and only gave a kick to give Bell a "dead leg". Bell was hurting all over. His mind was in a haze, he could taste and smell nothing but iron from his own blood that came running down from his nose. Bell had a hard time thinking straight, but he knew that he was in an avalanche of loss. Lefiya was far from his mind now, and he felt like he wanted to cry because he couldn't help her. He tried his damnest to try but the difference between levels was surreal, and he was at a severe disadvantage at this point. All he could do now was to pick himself up, but the only problem with that was that Bete had broken and fractured many bones in his body. He had a hard time trying to tell his body what to do, since his own body was getting beaten to a pulp by a level six who excels in close combat.

2**

Yet, Bell refused to stay down.

The odds against him, he needed to fight against the odds whether his body wanted to work or not. He remembers the fight against Asterios, and he didn't want to feel that way again. He stood up, embers of his passion still within his eyes, staring at Bete. Bete smirked, glad that Bell was willing to take a harsh beating and still be able to stand up. Bell's stare gave Bete shivers down his spine, and then Bete laughed it off as he saw what he liked from Bell once again. His passion.

"Alright, Rabbit's Foot," He got excited once more with passion, "How about this? If you satisfy me, I'll tell you where that damn lost cause is hiding at, huh? Sounds like a good trade, right?"

3*Bell stared at Bete. At first, it was astonishment, but then it changed to determination as he began to smirk. Bell's hope was rekindled from embers into a full-on blaze as it gave Bell a new feeling of determination. Most of all, Bell wanted to save Lefiya.

Bell knew that his ability to use the Argonaut skill was rather slow, but it was still effective enough to turn the tide of the battle. Bell had a hard time, but he was still able to take steps forwards, towards Bete. Bete was getting more and more excited each step Bell took and he started to take steps towards Bell as well.

Bell started to charge his Argonaut skill for one second towards his feet, and after that one second, he leapt towards Bete as Bell blurred in Bete's vision. Bete was able to still see Bell, but Bell was much faster than he was when he started the fight. It was less than a second, but Bell was right in front of Bete as he quickly charged his Argonaut skill towards his hand. He swung that fist that Bell focused his Argonaut skill on, and it hit Bete on his ribs. The blow was strong enough to make Bete reel from the impact it created when it landed, but Bete was still able to go on fighting.

Bete swung back at Bell with a fierce punch of his own, but Bell was able to foresee that punch as Bell quickly dodged that punch as soon as he saw Bete's fist attempt to make contact. Bell quickly focused his Argonaut skill on another fist as he tried for another swing but was dodged by Bete. Bell missed the swing, but quickly swung his body with a kick in defense, just in case Bete tried to counterattack Bell. Bell quickly swung his whole body around before aiming his hand with the Argonaut skill imprinted within it at Bete before casting another Firebolt against Bete. Bete saw the attack but was surprised at the speed and strength of the spell, since it was cast with the same hand that had the Argonaut skill on.

A solid streak of a blue Firebolt sprung forth as it was still faster than a regular Firebolt, and it hit Bete dead center of his chest. Bell used this opportunity to close the gap against Bete as smoke covered Bete in the attack. Bell quickly charged his fist with his skill before swinging once again. It hit Bete directly on the other side of his ribs, before Bell started to do the same type of attacks against Bete in quicker successions. Bell was starting to push back Bete with his attacks, before one of the attacks was suddenly stopped by Bete's fist. Bete grabbed Bell's fist as he pulled Bell forward towards Bete and threw a hard punch against Bell's jaw as it quickly knocked Bell out of consciousness.

Bell fell to the ground as he was knocked out.

Bete was rather impressed at the tenacity that Bell gave Bete and the ferocity that the rabbit gave against the wolf in the fight.

Sadly, Bell was knocked out cold.

Or so Bete thought.

Somehow or someway, Bell got up. He looked like a living zombie as Bell was barely conscious. He was concussed as all hell, and he was barely able to move. His body was battered all over as he started to move towards Bete. Bete was staring at Bell as he was not expecting Bell to get back up once more. Bell was sluggishly moving closer to Bete before getting up close to him, and then he started to throw soft punches at Bete as if it was his subconsciousness doing all the work.

3**

Bete was impressed. He grabbed Bell by the shoulders and was able to stop him easily.

Bete pulled two potions: a mind potion and a health potion. He kept these just in case he ever needed them.

Bete grabbed Bell's chin as he forcefully tilted his head upwards before forcing his mouth to open wide. Bete uncorked the mind potion and poured it down Bell's throat. The potion slowly brought Bell's mind back into its place. Bell was still sore, but at least he wasn't in a state of trance. Bete handed a health potion to Bell as he saw that Bell was in a better state. Bell was still slightly confused, but Bell still accepted the potion without question.

Bell uncorked the potion before he drank it. Most of the bones in his body unnaturally mended themselves back in place as the potion healed his wounds. Bell was confused as Bete walked past Bell. Before Bete left the area though, he had something to tell Bell.

He pointed in the direction of the perimeter of Orario. There was a specific castle that he pointed at.

"She's over there," That was all that Bete said before walking off slowly.

Bell stared at Bete with a neutral expression on his face before quickly giving a deep bow to Bete.

"Thank you, Mr. Bete!", Bell thanked Bete with sincerity in his voice.

Bete didn't like that kind of attention and got irritated by that.

Bete grunted, "Hurry up, Rabbit's Foot, before I seriously kick your ass again."

Bell didn't respond to him. Before Bell left, Bell let out a smile in gratitude towards Bete.

He raced towards the tower to find Lefiya.

(A/N: By the way, the hint was the fact that I mentioned Bete in the last chapter. I hoped this chapter was a good one for you. I honest want to see what you, as the reader, think about the fight as a whole. So, I want to ask you guys personally to give me your critique about my writing skills in fights. It would help me out a lot! Thanks!)