Chapter 86: The Killing Rose and a Bloody Twilight

There would be no more distractions separating the heroes from their tasks. All their forces fought to save the world in their own ways.

On the devastated White House grounds, Serra put her dukes against her cousin bathing in a bloody sunlight.

Before the ivory monument proclaiming liberty, Leo was helping Alura confront her son, seemingly puppeted by a devilish force.

Many of the heroes scrambled to disarm or destroy the nukes, unsure if even their speed would be enough to carry them to victory.

At the place they all called home, Mew, Maria and Lunalei confronted the mastermind of all these proceedings, Prometheus, the enemy of the past, present, and future.

As the blood red skies continued to spread across the planet, Serra paid no heed to their advance and wound back her first ready to jump her cousin.

But as she slowly drew her breath for battle, Erin appeared in front of her grinning madly and carried her off the ground by her sports bra.

After rising miles up in seconds she let go and floated back, drawing her lance for a quick but brutal stab towards Serra's chest.

Serra uppercutted the weapon but only managed to divert its path, and it wound up piercing part of her shoulder.

Erin then cast her lance aside into darkness and rushed Serra down with a flurry of savage claw strikes, filling the air with bleeding slashes until they were so numerous they formed the shape of a rose.

"Ha ha ha! That's more like it!" Erin then floated behind Serra and raised her hand, dragging up darkness from the air like a fine mist to create a glass-like blade, which she swung at Serra.

The rose shattered in all directions and Serra was caught in the slash mark, surprised to feel her back bleeding.

She was then launched even higher by the ensuing blast, which carried a bit of warmth inside.

Serra knew she needed to get back to solid ground, but with Erin applying all this pressure the best she could hope to do was punch the air with enough force to start pushing her back.

It was a stroke of luck that Erin took her punches as pitiful attempts to try and hit her, and she used her incredible speed to play around with her effort before settling on simply blasting her with a point-blank darkness attack.

Serra definitely hurtled faster towards the ground, which was good.

Except Erin got behind her and stabbed her fingers directly up into her back, piercing through her spirit with a blood-red ethereal blade.

Serra felt a bit of burnout occurring as energy was sapped from her body into the blade, and once Erin pulled it out she gave the energy a quick lick and laughed, "Spicy…I expected sweaty."

"What…was that?" Serra remarked.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with…" Erin laughed some more, then struck through Serra's spirit with a flurry of sword strikes to drain even more of her energy.

"Ughhh…!" Serra groaned, finding that her eyes were being disobedient in trying to close on her.

"Ha ha ha! I hope you don't mind that I'm holding back, Serra! But what other opportunity am I going to have to enjoy this power?!"

Serra took some more of these licks but then flared her eyes and caught her second wind, spinning around to try and sock Erin across the face.

But instead, she found herself exactly where she was before, only now she was staring up at a ruinous rain of lances approaching her, with Erin dead center and her eyes glowing bright.

"You were imagining a comeback, weren't you?" Erin flicked her wrist down and the lances struck Serra all at once in the abs to smash her into the ground. They then exploded one at a time, leaving behind a piercing effect that drained more energy from Serra's soul.

"In your DREAMS, cousin!" Erin proclaimed, lashing her arm out in triumphant victory, "You've already lost this battle, so at least salvage what's left of your pride and surrender quietly! MAYBE I'll be merciful…!"

"Oh, no, wait a minute…" Erin tapped her smiling lips, "You punched me in the face at prom!"

She used Serra's energy to create a massive blast of darkness in front of her right palm, carrying within it flickers of blue flames, "So I'm shit out of mercy!"

The moment she fired her attack her body turned into a discordant black silhouette while everything else briefly flashed bloody red.

"Serra!" Joe Dark shouted.

As the darkness hit ground zero and started to explode, it suddenly bulged upward and was thrown right back at Erin, who grit her teeth and forgoed her strength gap to flee out of the way.

"W-Wait, why…" She angrily scowled down at the ground where she saw Serra stand up with her fist raised, letting off this amazingly pristine grin contrasting how worn down her body looked already.

From scuffed hair to bruising all over her arms and legs, it was a miracle Serra was even able to stand at this point.

But she faced her opponent with a fun-loving smile and declared, "T-This is awesome, Eri! I knew you had it in you!"

Erin clenched her fists and twisted her wings inward, "I'm…I'm beating you…"

She then punched her chest, where her heart was quivering in…fear of all things, "S-So why…why are you the one celebrating?! WHY, damn you?!"

Serra did a couple weak hops alternating off each foot, "Cause, this is what we always wanted! A chance to go all-out against each other!"

"Wh-Where in the world did you pull that bullshit out of?!" Despite all this power, all the elegance of her appearance, and the refinement of her sins into focus…Erin was still the same person on the inside, prone to lashing out at the slightest obstacle.

"I would never…!" Serra's words forced themselves into her brain, and for a brief moment she recalled when they were younger.

And indeed, how that weak and studious child who misused her mouth looked Serra dead in the eyes after a "fun" play date and told her, "Someday…I want to be as strong as you!"

And Serra instantly met her desires by declaring, "You betcha, Eri! And we'll have a really fun time then!"

"Shut up…" Erin grabbed the sides of her head and shook around, her wings flailing wildly around her, "Why would I be forced to remember that memory?! I'm not that weak girl anymore! I'm strong! I-I'm finally strong!"

Serra gave her her blank stare and remarked, "I don't get it, Eri. Why'd you wanna forget the past?"

"Serra." Joe Dark called out from within the White House.

"Eh? What's up Uncle Prez?" When Serra turned towards him she stumbled from fatigue.

Joe Dark looked at her seriously and asked, "Are you SURE you can handle this?"

Serra nodded firmly, "I-I'm fine! I haven't even used my best move yet!"

Joe Dark turned his head and then smiled, "Heh, I kind of figured Mew would've helped you unlock some hidden power."

Serra then turned up to see Erin getting a hold of herself and punched her fists together, "I wanna see if I can pull something off first though…"

"Serra." Joe Dark raised his voice, causing her to look confused.

He raised his brows and sighed, "Please don't be like your father and hold back until the last moment."

"...Oooooh, alright!" Serra took his words to heart with a smile and pointed her fist at Erin, "I guess she has earned it! Wouldn't wanna be rude now!"

"Hey, Eri!"

Erin lashed her arms out and shouted, "WHAT?!"

Blue flames started to flicker up around Serra's feet, and steadily climbed her body until it wreathed her like a broken up cowl, "Hope you got plenty left in store, cause I'm about to give you 120% of my fire!"

Erin grimaced, "What a load of bullshit…just where do you get this attitude from?"

Mew's Battle…

From afar, Violet and Mark watched the battle unfolding with caution.

Mark thought he had grown numb to watching battles between superpowered people, but this was on a whole other level.

Entire swathes of the landscape were being swept up in fire and brimstone from Prometheus' assault.

He could barely keep track of the movements of Lunalei's uncle as he kept jumping in to sock that bastard across the face.

And there was also…giant fists made of gas?

He started to understand just why this needed to be kept a secret. He also felt…envious of what Lunalei's uncle could accomplish.

Because this man. This one man, who hid in the shadows, plotting the end of the world, had also put his friend through hell. No…he likely put many similar minded orphans through the same hell.

Even if it was just for one moment, Mark wished he could be in Mew's footsteps to punch that bastard in the jaw.

"Wow…" His daughter leaned out of cover with an awe-struck expression, even as the shockwaves from their attacks ruffled her hair.

"...H-Hey dad, if I had powers like them…" She turned and smiled, "I bet I could do a lot of good with them!"

Mark flinched and found reason to laugh and even cry despite the perils of this situation, "Yeah. I bet you could."

Mark looked over and saw Lunalei keeping her distance as well, albeit to a lesser extent, "...Good luck. Partner."

Lunalei kept a close watch over S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s movements as he struggled to keep pace with her uncle's speed.

"S.A.N.C.T.U.M., let Mew and Maria draw his focus! And then when there's an opening, target the veins of his armor!"

"As you wish, master."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. stuck to the ground and jumped away from a sweeping laser, only for a follow-up blast to send him hurtling into the air.

Mew jumped up and caught him, then put him down, "Here you go!"

The two then immediately had to break off and run in separate directions as Prometheus went for another sweeping attack.

Mew crossed paths with Maria as she was taking a few shots at Prometheus' head. He used his wings to flick the bullets away, then leaned his head back and muttered, "Is that the best you can do, Aurian?"

When he swung his wings out the many tips unleashed a flurry of laser beams that homed in on her location.

Maria quickly called upon her gas hands to create steps for her to jump off of and narrowly dodge the onslaught. She then fired the rest of her clip at Prometheus' head again to no avail.

But this gave her ample time to land safely with a roll and then immediately dig into her pocket for more ammo.

Her dad and S.A.N.C.T.U.M. were running circles out of Prometheus' range, seemingly waiting for an opening.

So she paused, and then dug a little deeper into her pockets to stick different colored bullets into her barrel.

"He needs to block attacks aimed at his face! That's his weak point!" She declared.

"Oh well that's good to know, cause that's the part I want to punch the most!" Mew declared in return.

Maria kept low to the ground beneath Prometheus and waited for him to raise his hand to signal an attack.

She then slammed her gas hands down to create a massive smokescreen that swept across all three of them.

Prometheus scowled, "You think you can distract me with cheap parlor tricks?"

He flicked his fingers forward and down and sent a bombardment of lasers all across the smokescreen, while folding his wings smugly for protection.

"You dumbass." Mew called out the exact second before uppercutting him in the jaw through the gap below his wings.

This made his wings unfurl and Mew quickly followed up by looking around and with a smile, smashing Prometheus in the chest to send him towards S.A.N.C.T.U.M.

"I think you know what to do!"

Lunalei called out, "This is our opportunity! Hit him with all you've got!"

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. combined his Pursuit Mode for speed and his Swordmaster Mode for the blades and delivered a twin-bladed sliced towards Prometheus' back.

Sparks flew like fireworks but the two forces were at a stalemate, "M-My blades…are not…sharp enough!"

Lunalei grit her teeth and clicked her tongue, "Damn it, what is this material made of?"

Prometheus' body flashed and he prepared to release a burst, "I will not perish…to blades that could only best weaklings!"

Lunalei countered with, "Those 'weaklings' had more honor than you'll ever understand! So don't you dare besmirch them!"

If only her rage could translate into power for S.A.N.C.T.U.M.

However, as it seemed they would be forced to retreat from this opportunity, they heard a shot ring out in the air.

Prometheus quickly folded his wings in to block the incoming bullet, remaining as smug as ever.

But the moment the casing compressed against his membrane, it let off a powerful, deafening explosion that shredded Prometheus' defenses and pushed him enough against S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s blades for him to cut the material.

Mew walked up to Maria lowering her smoking gun and whistled, "Geez, when did you have time to make THAT?"

Maria glanced over her shoulder and teased him with her tongue out, "Can't I have a hobby outside of work, dad?"

"Heh heh, atta girl." Mew patted her on the back and she flinched.

"...Dad, you're sweating," She remarked with concern, "Lunalei and I can handle this guy, you should-"

"Maria, there's something important I need to demonstrate to Lunalei, no…" Mew marched ahead of his daughter and stood tall, clenching his fists and whispering with a bit of anger in his voice, "There's something I need to show this son of a bitch threatening our world."

Maria then sighed and loaded another special bullet into her gun, "Ok, but…I'm telling mom if you push yourself too far and get hurt."

Mew flinched, but then laughed it off, "Sheesh, way to kill the moment…You've been hanging around Alura too much."

Maria pointed her gun forward and smirked, "I got your back, dad."

Mew then nodded and locked onto Prometheus slowly rising from the ground with clipped wings. He then narrowed his gaze and darted forward, his speed notably in decline.

"Hey! You probably should get used to the dirt, Prometheus!"

Prometheus threw his head up with the makings of a scowl on his face, "Grrr…!"

Mew leaped hundreds of feet forward and pulled his fist back, "Because that's where you're going to take a nice loooong nap!"

"Enough of this FARCE!" Prometheus swung his hand out, squeezed his fist, and his energy began to wave out like a fire.

He then thrust his hand at the ground and declared, "You are not the only one who can command creation to kneel!"

The battleground was instantly divided up into squarespaces and pulled up towards the sky, separating the three fighters in an uneven setup.

Mew's charge was stalled upon rubbing against one of the pillars, but he got back up and stared down his enemy floating a few feet away.

"Now, to deal with you deceitful ones one at a time…" Prometheus raised his hand and called forth an energy blade, then flew at Mew to start slashing away.

Mew weaved around each of his strikes while standing still, then threw in a few punches to disorient his attacker, ending on a strong punch to Prometheus' jaw.

When the man retreated Mew kept his fist held out and then flipped it around, wagging at his grinning face, "Come on, at least show me something I haven't seen before."

Prometheus summoned a blade in his other hand and growled, "How about Hell, you freak of nature?!"

"Heh, not a bad comeback!" Mew then continued to dodge around both blade slashes, because the man had no plan, no coordination. He simply believed raw power could conquer his problems.

Mew didn't even bother striking back until he pulled back, upon which he swung a kick that hooked him on the back of his neck.

"Maria, CATCH!" He then turned around and punted Prometheus to the southwest pillars where his daughter had just climbed upon.

She readied her pistol and slammed the barrel point blank into Prometheus' gut. She then covered her body in many layers of aura and pulled the trigger to explode another bullet.

They were both launched away, but Maria had gas clouds to cushion her fall while Prometheus was at the mercy of momentum.

After he recovered, the front of his body suit singed, and he threw his hand up in anger and muttered, "I never did get a chance to dissect your kind…"

S.A.N.C.T.U.M charged in via Pursuit Mode and started wailing on Prometheus with punches and kicks, using short bursts of speed to misdirect his attempts at fighting back.

After a while of doing this he shifted back to Swordmaster Mode and held his arms out to catch the swords Mew threw at him.

He then tried to slice Prometheus' suit from both sides but he blocked with his wings and then thrust his hand ready to blast this irritating machine.

Mew then tackled him from behind, diverting the blast harmlessly into the sky, and shifting his wings out of the way for S.A.N.C.T.U.M's attack.

Thanks to Maria's bullets, the suit was weak enough to be cut, albeit not all the way through.

When Prometheus saw a few sparks fly from his suit, he grit his teeth, flared his eyes, and then released a quick burst to throw his aggressors off.

S.A.N.C.T.U.M stabbed his swords into the side of a pillar to stall, but Mew tumbled a bit before getting on his feet.

He felt his heart racing faster, but wanted his smile to be the only expression his niece and daughter saw as he stood against evil.

Prometheus paused in mid-air and brushed his hand out, his expression briefly twisting with insanity, "I'm just playing around with you…! In a couple minutes, the nukes will hit the ground and my victory is guaranteed."

"Excuses, excuses!" Mew shouted, "You're getting your ass beat like we jumped you in an alley."

He then thrust his finger up, "So why don't you just cut the bullshit and accept death gracefully?"

This struck a nerve, "I-I will never die to your kind!"

"Knew it," When Mew looked at him again, his glare was piercing, "You're scared of dying."

Prometheus recoiled with his scowl growing bigger.

Mew lambasted him in a carefree fashion, "Aaaaaall these years you've had a safety cushion to fallback on but now? This is it. The last stock. No more 1-ups."

"I should've figured this plot reeked of desperation. Because you had all the time in the world, but you never actually changed anything. Did you?"

Prometheus rebuked his question, "It's not my fault that humanity refuses to change!"

"Yeah, but you've been around long enough to see all facets of humanity both good and bad. You have no excuse for not trying to lead a good example."

"Lives have been saved by my actions!"

Mew bluntly pointed out, "And how many more died to get there?"

He then threw his hands up and shrugged, "This is why you're not worth arguing with. Cause this isn't a matter of ideals clashing. You're too stubborn and set in your ways. You think humanity only has the potential for good if you're the one leading them."

"When left to their own devices, humanity chooses evil more often than not!" Prometheus declared.

"Et tu, hypocrite?" Mew said with a brow raised, then closed his eyes and sighed, "You'll never understand us humans."

"I am just! I am morally correct!" Prometheus proclaimed.

"Oh please. You would NEVER be capable of extending your hand to a homeless person without smirking and plotting twenty different ways to make use of them."

"On what grounds do you judge me, you false god?!"

"I don't know, why don't I ask all the orphans you exploited and radicalized for your stupid war?"

Prometheus scowled, "I gave them purpose, I gave them power! What have YOU ever done by sitting in a race car and relishing in the glory of victory?"

"I dunno? Been a great loving father to two awesome kids? Been a supportive and attentive husband to my amazing wife?" Mew shrugged, "You seem to be under the delusion that you can salvage victory here, but the fact is…"

He flared his eyes boldly to declare, "You were dead the moment you showed your face to us."

Prometheus gripped his fists tightly and muttered, "This is why your kind irritates me. You and your massive egos…your blatant disregard for the lives of the innocent."

He then reared his head back and shouted, "Then tell me, oh pious god! How would you stop this cycle?!"

Mew closed his eyes and sighed, "Dunno. I'm not the guy with all the answers."

"But maybe…" He smirked, "I can be an inspiration to the person who will have them."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M had been navigating the pillars to try and join back up with Mew. But stopped not far into his speech at his master's behest.

She got butterflies in her stomach and had trouble holding on to her tablet.

It was so easy to hear her voice coming from Prometheus' mouth. But she felt warmth burning that feeling away as her Uncle kept talking.

"I-I get it now…"

"Master?"

"S-S.A.N.C.T.U.M?" She held her tablet tightly and looked up at the floating battleground, "I want to be a hero."

"...It does my processor good to hear that."

From the camera, she saw her Uncle flash a smile her way and then returned to facing down Prometheus, sweating and struggling to keep his legs upright.

Prometheus raised his hand and declared, "I hope you enjoyed spending your last moments spewing nonsense! The fires I have created shall now burn the wicked from this world! And with it…a new world shall rise!"

A few seconds of dread filled the air, until Mew flashed a smirk and remarked, "I don't have any explosions."

Prometheus froze and then turned around to see Seattle in the distance still intact, "Impossible…!"

All around the world, the heroes were wrapping up their tasks.

Riku had dealt with his nukes with little issue, though was sweating due to how close it felt.

Kairi almost let one slip out of sight, but used the Neo Drive combined with a certain man's Gravity Drive to crush the nuke into oblivion.

Lunis and Solaris had to grab hold of the final nukes and teleport them to the moon and sun respectively before they ran out of time.

And then Shina's sharpshooter skills took care of the cores with no issue, while the Valkyrie Drive sliced up the shell.

She pulled out her device and declared, "All clear! And you all…?"

Auris held up her device while speeding towards one last nuke, "He fired an extra one in this region! I'm rushing towards it but at the rate it's going, by the time I catch up it might be too late."

She shut off the device, narrowed her gaze, and pushed herself further, "If only I still had the Aegis Dragoon Drive…"

She considered throwing her body in the path of the nuke and using her immortal body to tank the blast…

However, the next thing she knew the nuke was sliced vertically and the ensuing explosion was collapsed by a thick, green and familiar aura.

Her eyes widened but then greeted the sight of an old compatriot warmly.

It was Gabriel, wearing an old-fashioned farmer's gi with his hair tied back into a knot. His skin's green shade was kept in the open.

Auris floated next to him and smiled, "You bailed me out of a stupid decision, Gabriel."

Gabriel closed his eyes and gave a light bow while sheathing his well-worn katana, "It's been a while, Lady Auris. My apologies for being behind the times. I had no idea we were in the midst of a threat."

Auris chuckled, "Actually, you just dealt with the last problem on our end."

Gabriel was intrigued, "Is that so? Well, in that case, do you need to get back? Or do you have time to visit? I'd love for you to meet my wife and our newborn daughter."

Auris froze in sheer disbelief, "P-Perhaps, in a bit…I need to update the others."

But Mew didn't need that. He could look up and tell that the skies would remain blue as long as he took a breath.

He faced Prometheus again and watched his fists shake, then told him in a mocking tone, "This is your inferno? I don't even see any embers!"

Prometheus hunched over and scowled, "I-I don't need those useless nukes…! I…I am more than enough to kill all of you scum!"

"Aaaaaand there's the breakdown," After snapping his fingers to point and laugh at his enemy, he glanced towards S.A.N.C.T.U.M, "Hey niece! Want to weigh in?"

Lunalei gasped, then composed herself, feeling her Uncle's gentle nudge on her back giving her strength.

"...Personally Uncle, I think I'm tired of problems being solved by killing. But for this son of a bitch, I think I'll make an exception. Agreed, S.A.N.C.T.U.M?"

"Agreed, master."

"Ok. I'm activating Kill Mode. Priority target…Prometheus!"

Lunalei flipped the switch via her tablet and S.A.N.C.T.U.M went silent, as his body shifted to red and black, and he rose to the tallest pillar ready to charge Prometheus.

Mew glanced the other way to see Maria had gotten onto a pillar close by, locked and loaded.

The two exchanged nods and then got into a battle stance.

Prometheus' wings shone brightly and his energy spewed out maliciously, "I shall end you all…!"

Leo's Battle…

Among everyone in his family, Leo was told that Alura was the weakest, the most frail, relying only on her illusions to survive a battle.

But he was learning now that being "weak" among his family was still extraordinary in its own way.

Alex and Alura had taken to the skies and moved rapidly between different points, the only proof of engagement being flashes of darkness in the air.

But slow things down and the truth becomes clear…Alura was primarily playing on the defensive, using her spears as shields against the vicious slashes of her son.

Every stroke of the blade scarred the very atmosphere and drew in more blood to fuel his rampage.

All these attacks were punctuated by maniacal grinning. Failure was meaningless. Every second alive was glorious.

Alura kept the same level of elegance and coolheadedness she showed on stage. She even threw in the occasional smile.

Leo suspected that she kept her illusions up to try and conceal her presence here. It was far too late to trick the rest of the onlookers into assuming nothing was happening.

He had to wait his turn to join in, at her behest.

After a while of blocking attacks, Alura finally thrust a spear between Alex's slashes.

But he flipped over her and immediately slashed her from behind. She left a few spears behind to pin down the blade inches from her back.

She then looked over her shoulder and with a flash from her eyes she twirled back and kicked her son in the side of the head.

He went flying into the side of the monument and his wings splattered into a massive stain.

Alura then fired a bunch of spears to try and hold his limbs down by the clothes.

But Alex contorted his hands back and started crawling up the monument. The blood left behind made a mouth and chomped through the entire structure.

Alex then glued it to his hands and tried to pile drive it on top of his mom.

The catastrophic wave of dust and debris that followed spread for a mile out, sweeping up cars and people alike.

Alex rose out of the cloud with his wings reforming from the mutilation surrounding him, and he gleefully twisted his wrists around.

He glared down at a frozen Leo and smirked, "Farewell, mother. Your worth was equivalent to an eggshell…"

The dust started rising like rose petals, glittering and bright.

Alex then paused and looked down to see a spear piercing his gut.

He closed his eyes, and sighed through his grin, "Y-You're a lot stronger than you look, mom."

Alura, floating behind him with beauty unmarred, hung her head and smiled, "Well, Joe Dark wasn't a half-bad teacher."

"Guess I'll never know." Alex said in a mournful tone, before swinging around with the spear tearing through his flesh and trying to cut his mom across the chest.

Alura immediately turned her head up with a glare and blocked the attack with more spears.

"Sorry, but I have to get past….past…!" Upon gritting his teeth, his sword broke apart into sharp veins that wove between the spears and scratched up Alura's skin.

She retreated and the veins kept splitting and pursuing. She eventually led them around the nearby trees and used the gaps in sight to start slicing them apart with her spears.

Eventually this culminated in her arriving over the water and coiling most of her weaponry together into one giant spear.

Alex turned around and started slashing waves of blood at her, combining that with the veins to surround her.

He then swung up with such force it carried him higher.

Alura flung the spear at him to knock him out of the sky and then used her kicks to deal with the projectiles.

But all that scattered blood touched the water and turned it in seconds. And it immediately rose in the shape of a giant claw that grabbed hold of her and brought her to heel upon the ground.

It then dragged her weakened body along a tidal wave where Alex stabbed her through the chest without moving his arm.

He grinned and turned his head with a cocky laugh, his one eye bulging with ecstasy, "What's wrong mother? I thought you'd be more talkative!"

Alura smirked, "S-Sorry, but I'm not like the others in my family. I prefer to be business professional in battle "

Alex then flinched as he suddenly found himself impaled in the gut from four directions, and Alura was now behind him with eyes glowing.

"If you're so desperate for screams, leviathan, I'll rip them out of you!"

Alex twisted his upper body around and slashed at her with a grin but missed completely, earning more spears through his flesh as a reward.

"Ghhh…!" He then waded through the gloriously painful protrusions and looked around.

"You can use these tricks as long as you want, mother! But our powers come from the same source! I will simply develop an immunity to them!"

This battle so far had been a stalemate, neither side taking a fatal hit. But his words rang true, and Alura knew it.

However, just how deep the illusionary labyrinth went was not something the demon symbiote had bothered to consider.

Because this wasn't the old Alura, who survived off the most basic functions of her powers.

All this time, she had simply been standing beside Leo like she always had, with Alex lashing out against a ghost.

"Alright…!" She said following a quick huff to relax her nerves.

Leo turned to Alura and wondered, "What are we doing exactly?"

Alura faced him with a smile, "Ah right, you didn't see the illusions because of your aura senses."

She leaned her hand against her hip and faced her son, "It was a gamble, but my assumption was right. The leviathan is fused with my son's body almost perfectly. But that means my son's human senses are preventing the leviathan from fully negating my illusions."

"Though I imagine he'll start resorting to more AoE attacks soon…"

Leo then faced her fully and raised his brows, "So how do we win?"

Alura faced him and gestured at his bracelet, "I need you to play a song on your Conductor Drive that will buff my darkness so I can knock my son unconscious, which should take the leviathan out for the moment."

Leo had to take a moment to register her concise explanation of his powers, "H-How do you…?"

"Long story short, it was a conversation between adults. So can you do it?"

Leo hummed, "I need a certain genre of music for each element. For darkness that would be…"

"Symphonic metal," Alura said with some confidence, but then clicked her tongue, "Right, you wouldn't be used to playing that."

She then reached into her dress while Leo remarked, "Do you have a Plan B if this doesn't work?"

"My ultimate technique could incapacitate Alex easily. But I'm not about to subject him to that…"

She pulled out a phone and flung it at Leo, "Here. Load up one of my singles and try to replicate it with your Drive."

Leo held the phone confidently and nodded, "I can do it."

Alura then spun to face her son, while Leo had one last thing to say, "Still, this type of high-risk plan feels like-"

She flicked her finger back and said in a firm tone, "Finish that comparison and I won't get you and Lyra tickets to my next concert."

She ended with a smile and then faced her son to declare, "Alright! Are you done swinging at empty air?!"

Alex paused and faced her with a maniacal scowl as he slowly realized what had happened. He pointed his sword out and muttered, "First…we'll stab your eyes out."

"Hmph…" Alura gave a haughty shrug, while Leo readied instruments made of aura to aid her.

Serra's Battle…

"How did you do that?" Mew asked after him and Serra finished sparring for the day.

"I dunno! I just felt really fired up and then BOOM! My energy exploded outward!" Serra emphasized this by throwing her arms up.

Mew crossed his arms and hummed, "Hmmm, so maybe you're drawing upon a second energy reserve in your soul. It seemed to increase your strength and speed over time, but…"

Serra nudged him with her elbow, "What's the matter, pop? Worried I found a way to surpass you?!"

Mew pulled his head back and laughed, "Ha ha, worried? Me? Nah! But you might have the potential to do it if you master this technique."

"For now, why don't you give it a name?"

Serra punched her fists together and a fire lit up inside of her soul, expanding outward like a star going supernova. Her body quickly became wreathed in a flame-like effect, but her hair started burning brightly like an actual azure fire.

Her eyes glowed and with a fierce grin, the fire burst open around her as she declared, "Azure…Overburst!"

Erin was pushed back slightly and felt Serra's power not only return, but rise to greater heights, making her scowl.

"Even after all this…You STILL haven't gone all out…?!"

Serra chuckled, then pointed her fist at her friend, "Nah, like I said, I'm giving you 120%, Eri! So I hope you're ready…Cause here I come!"

All that was left were these final battles…

Next Time: Our Origin Stories