Hey folks, we're finally back with "Space" after what's felt like a long while! I know it's only been over a month at the time this chapter gets released, but it's been a struggle getting to draft up this chapter because of the others I've had to focus on first. And I know this chapter's gonna take a while to write, since there's a lot about it that I want to get to.

But anyways, the last time we left off, our heroes were in the midst of many battles, though those heading for Lendard's core discovered that the Dark Stars they were fighting were nothing but duplicates, as the real ones are spread throughout the planet with their own objectives. And as it turns out, both Clown and Killer have taken care to board the Edens Zero for something…

So what'll our heroes do now? Let's find out!

SPACE

Memories can be fleeting. There can be few and far between time spent. And those memories may one day be lost by all. Could one say those really ever happened?

Though our heroes have bested three of the Dark Stars, it turns out that they were none other than duplicates meant to throw them off, as they had other objectives. Apart from Brigandine, Wizard is currently on standby in Lendard's main factory, while Killer and Clown have gone and boarded the Edens Zero. All the while, the likes of Deadend Crow, God Acnoella, and even Justice continue to cause trouble for those fighting for the sake of humanity.

And with Ziggy and Ultron waiting in the wings to make their returns… what will happen next?

Labilia trembled at the sight of both Clown and Killer atop the crate beside her, grinning ominously. She immediately knew they weren't allies. Sweat trickled down her face as she took a nervous step back.

"Somebo—!" Her shout was silenced as the Brain of Edens grabbed her by her face.

"No need for that," he noted to her, "You're going to end up dead up either way," he pointed out to the B-Cuber's fright.

"Oh, stop it, Li'l Kill," Clown chimed in, "You put far too little thought into aesthetics when it comes to death," he told him.

"Huh?" his fellow android uttered in confusion, tightening his grip on Labilia.

"Death should be a sublime event," the Death of Edens said, "A human's death is the finale of that person's story," he mentioned on, giving off a sinister grin, "Let's make her death beautiful…" he insisted. The B-Cuber's eyes shook with fear.

"Yeah… don't care," Killer responded. All of a sudden though, a figure slid up beside him, getting his attention as he looked to see that it was Alice, who was preparing a mass of ice in her right hand in the shape of a shotgun.

"Ice-Make…" she began, aiming her newly-created weapon at the Brain of Edens' face, causing him to gasp, "SHOTGUN!" she roared, firing a point-blank shot as ice blasted through her target's head.

"Ooh!" Clown yelped in surprise, seeing his partner's body topple over onto the ground as sparks of electricity crackled around his head.

"A-Ah…" Labilia uttered out, both amazed and frightened by such a swift execution from the ice and water mage.

"You shouldn't have left the safe room for this reason," she pointed out to the B-Cuber, getting her attention, "We have no idea if the enemy's planning to catch us by surprise like this," she mentioned as she let her ice-formed weapon disappear.

"R-Right… I'm sorry…" Labilia stuttered apologetically.

"Brava, young lady!" Clown complimented as he clapped his hands, "You didn't even hesitate to attack so brazenly…" he pointed out, "Would you have done the same if he was human?" he wondered aloud.

"Enough talk," Alice said, planting her right fist into the open palm of her left hand as an icy aura wafted off from it, "You'll be next," she affirmed confidently.

"Is that right?" a familiar voice inquired, causing her to blink in surprise. She narrowly managed to glance back in time to avoid taking a taking a fatal slash to her back from Killer, who had an energy blade formed over his right arm. He managed to still get her left hip, making her wince as she threw off her jacket, putting her hand over her new wound and freezing it with a patch of ice.

"What…?" Labilia uttered in disbelief, "But… he should be…" she started to say, only to look at what she thought was Killer's body, seeing that it was actually a regular training bot.

"A fake, huh?" Alice noted.

"It's called a contingency," the Brain of Edens retorted, removing the hood of his cloak, "I'm sure you know what that means, otherworlder," he remarked on, making the ice and water mage narrow her eyes, "So they had you stationed here as a line of defense, huh?" he presumed, "I suppose if anyone was to put a strain on our plans, it'd be an otherworlder we don't know much about," he told her.

"Oh, I wouldn't say we need to know much," Clown chimed in, "That ruthlessness of hers is certainly a telltale sign of someone we need to take seriously…" he pointed out.

"Labilia, go hide with Couchpo," Alice advised of the blue-haired B-Cuber, making her blink in surprise, "I understand your feelings of wanting to help, but the situation's changed," she told her, "Now go!" she insisted.

"R-Right!" Labilia stammered, hurrying off.

"Oh dear, she'll alert everyone…" Clown muttered out.

"Nah, that's fine," Killer assured, "It'll save us the trouble of doing away with the last two Shining Stars," he affirmed as he stepped forward. Alice took a ready stance.

"Is that really all you're here for?" she inquired.

"You tell me…" the Brain of Edens remarked back, lunging out at her. She quickly formed a pair of ice daggers in her hands, using them to clash against the energy blade he drew. Skidding past her, he had a holographic screen appear beside him, typing commands upon the icons that showed up. All of a sudden, a pair of the starfighters in the hangar floated up, causing the ice and water mage to glance back in surprise. They started firing onto her, causing her to instantly form a wall of water to block off the ammunition sent her way.

"Ooh, very nice~!" Clown sang as a compliment as he slid in behind her, causing her to widen her eyes. She glanced back too late to see a gun barrel emerging from his right arm, aimed for her head. "Bang," he said, firing a point-blank shot right into her face, "Heehee!" he giggled, "I got her back for you, Li'l Kill!" he remarked to his partner.

"You think so?" Alice's voice questioned to the surprise of both Dark Stars, "Water-Make…" she began, releasing a swirling torrent of water that spread to catch both Clown and Killer, "Whirlpool!" she exclaimed. The water pulled against the pair of androids, dragging them closer to their foe.

"You're a troublesome one, I'll give you that…" the Brain of Edens admitted, typing on holographic keys that appeared around him. Two more starfighters were activated, about to fire onto the ice and water mage. However, she took notice, blasting them up to the ceiling with spouts of water underneath them, making them fall back onto the floor in heaps. "Tch," Killer scoffed.

"Well, I suppose we better start taking things more seriously ourselves…" Clown decided, releasing a purple mist from his hands that shrouded the area. Alice blinked in surprise, quickly washing the strange mist away with a wave of water. As she did though, she noticed a patch of her skin was now purple, spreading along her arm.

'A poison, huh?' she noted inwardly. Both of her foes leapt out of the swirling whirlpool, landing down safely on the floor.

"In case you couldn't tell, that poison isn't fatal…" Clown pointed out, "But you will find yourself unable to move after a few minutes…" he mentioned.

"And that'll be our opportunity to kill you and everyone else," Killer affirmed, dashing in behind Alice. She grimaced, already feeling her movements slow ever so slightly. However, a figure lunged in between her and the Brain of Edens.

"MOSCOOOYYYY!" Mosco yelled as he struck Killer back with a powerful palm thrust to his chest. He slid to a stop, letting out another scoff.

"Another one?" he muttered in question.

"Mosco!" Alice yelped out.

"Miss Alice, Miss Labilia's been taken somewhere safe aboard the ship with Couchpo," the heavyset android affirmed.

"Good," the ice and water mage said, stepping forward. Mosco noticed the spreading patch of poison along her arm, blinking in surprise.

"Are you alright?" he asked of her.

"I'll manage," she responded.

"Ah, you're with the Shining Stars, aren't you?" Clown presumed as he rubbed his chin curiously, "Yes, you're Sister's valet," he concluded with a snap of his fingers.

"I am her minion!" Mosco retorted emphatically, while Alice looked over at him blankly.

"Oh dear…" the Death of Edens uttered, "And I after a gave you such a classy term…" he added.

"I AM HER MINION!" Mosco bellowed again.

'How is that a good title…?' Alice wondered as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of her head.

"What are you lightweights doing aboard our ship?" the heavyset android asked of the Dark Stars.

"Why, eliminating Sister and Hermit, of course," Clown responded.

"That's what we were made to do," Killer mentioned with a grin. Alice narrowed her eyes. She knew they were hiding something. Mosco then stuck his right hand out in front of her.

"Stand back, Miss Alice," he advised, "I'll deal with these two myself," he declared, reaching his left hand toward the button at his tummy. The others blinked in surprise, wondering what pressing such a button labeled 'DON'T PUSH' would result in. However…

"DON'T YOU DARE PUSH THAT BUTTON, YOU FILTHY PIG!" Sister's voice roared out, causing Mosco to flinch as he raised his hands.

"OINK!" he exclaimed, while Alice blinked twice and gave off an exasperated look.

"So I hear you wanted to see us?" the Life of Edens assumed as she walked in alongside Hermit, "You little brats…" she grumbled.

"Boarding without any authorization…" Hermit commented, narrowing her eyes into a glare, "You won't be getting away with that," she vowed.

"Sister! Hermit!" Alice called out.

"Thanks for keeping them busy, Alice," the Life of Edens said gratefully, "I'll patch you up quick," she assured.

"And then we'll take these two down," Hermit added in declaration.

"Getting confident, are we?" Killer presumed, "You remember that we were designed to be your superior successors, right?" he inquired of the two female androids.

"How are things looking on the front lines?" Mosco asked of the Shining Stars.

"Jinn and the others are getting a handle on Crow thanks to Kenny stepping in," Sister confirmed in reply.

"And Holy's with them, ready to make her move," Hermit added.

"All right…" the Life of Edens uttered as she grinned, "It's been a while since I got to bust some heads…" she remarked cheekily as a yellow light started shrouding her body.

"Battle Dress… Requip," Hermit said with a blue light engulfing her own form. As the luminosities around the two female androids dissipated, it revealed that Sister now wore a white-colored uniform with a pair of angelic wings and a pattern of hearts on her sleeves. Meanwhile, her colleague had a yellow combat dress, with a pair of cybernetic, rabbit-like protrusions at her head. "We'll now eradicate all enemies on board," she confirmed.

"I'm sentencing you both to remodeling," the Life of Edens remarked, "You're gonna get turned into crappers," she added with a smirk.

"What a vulgar woman…" Clown noted disdainfully.

"Might as well use your 'aesthetics' to pretty her up in death…" Killer suggested as he grinned. The pairs of androids stared each other down, ready to begin their battle.

X

"Come on, we're almost there!" Shirou yelled out, leading the way as he, Kyoka and Elsie ran down the path away from the battles that were raging on. Between Natalie going up against Acnoella by herself to the other Omni Force members trying to hold off Justice, the situation was beyond chaotic. The group knew that the entire planet was becoming a battlefield, both on the ground and in space. For a moment, the Oración Seis Galáctica member lowered her gaze, thinking back to what her life was like before she turned into such an infamous criminal.

"Hey, you good?" the Earphone Jack Quirk user asked, snapping her away from her thoughts as she blinked.

"Yes, sorry…" she answered apologetically, "That light we just saw was one of Justice's attacks," she told her colleagues, making them give off surprised looks, "He and I share the same Ether Gear," she mentioned.

"Wait, seriously?!" Kyoka questioned out of shock.

"So that explains why he's so dangerous…" Shirou concluded.

"Yeah…" Elsie said as they ran onward, "I don't doubt your friends' strength in facing him, but…" she continued. Just then, the Earphone Jack Quirk user perked up.

"Oh crap!" she yelped, causing the others to turn their heads to find none other than the Oración Seis Interestelar member closing in on them from the air, cloaked in a blue light.

"ELSSSSIIIIEEEEEE!" he bellowed out, drawing a katana with a luminescent blade.

"Run!" Shirou yelled, bringing forth a pair of twin swords into his hands in a flash of light. He leapt out in front of Justice, clashing his weapons against his as sparks flew between them. They glared at each other fiercely.

"Geez, this guy's relentless…" Kyoka muttered, "Hey, come on!" she beckoned to Elsie, grabbing her by her right wrist before running off with her.

"You won't get away!" the Oración Seis Interestelar member vowed fiercely.

"And you're not getting any closer!" Shirou retorted, swinging his blades to blow Justice back as he landed upon the ground, skidding to a stop. The mage noticed that his new foe was breathing heavily, his body riddled with scrapes. "Guess having to fight more than just Elsie can be rough on you, huh?" he assumed of his opponent, who gritted his teeth.

"And who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Shirou Emiya," the mage answered, holding up his blades, "I'm a hero of justice," he mentioned firmly. Blood vessels started bulging around Justice's head.

"A hero… of justice…?" he repeated in an enraged snarl. In the meantime, Kyoka and Elsie turned a corner. They both felt rumbles and heard roars from afar, glancing over to see Natalie battling against the multitude of Dragons that Acnoella was sending her way.

'Damn, we really need help here…' the Earphone Jack Quirk user noted inwardly, 'If it wasn't for comms going down, we could've met up with the rest of her crew by now to help patch her up…' she mentioned to herself. All of a sudden, something was thrown out in front of her and the infamous Space Pirate. They both blinked in surprise to see that it was a grenade, which exploded in a bright burst of light, along with an ear-piercing screech.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Kyoka shrieked, putting her right hand over her ear as she flinched, shutting her eyes. Elsie covered her own ears, shutting her lone eye as well. Immediately, she could feel disoriented by the sudden flashbang, unable to quickly compose herself. In that very moment, she felt a hand go over her mouth as she was dragged away, while her colleague was completely unaware. The moment the screech from the grenade died down, she opened her eyes and gasped to find that the infamous Space Pirate was gone. "Oh, dammit!" she cursed, hurrying off in search of her.

Up in the space above Lendard, Dragons were being shot down one after another by the arriving ships of the Union Army. The Skull Fairy was leading the charge, though those inside were surprised by the arriving forces.

"The hell's going on?!" Gowen shouted in question, "What's Justice's ship doing here at Lendard?!" he inquired angrily to a surprised Shiro upon a holographic screen.

"It's not just his fleet…" Hyoga chimed in, getting his attention, "It seems the rest of the Oración Seis Interestelar have come," he confirmed, narrowing his eyes.

"Are you serious?!" his colleague exclaimed in shock.

"I swear, we didn't know!" Shiro affirmed, holding her hands up in a placating manner upon the communication screen.

"Have you at least let them know we're allies for the moment?" Hyoga inquired.

"We've done what we can," Ibuki confirmed in response, "But we really didn't know… the Union Army would go this far…" she confessed amidst the explosions raining about the battlefield.

"Huh…" Hyoga sighed, "It makes sense, considering the situation," he noted aloud, "Shiki Granbell, Elsie Crimson, Ziggy, Deadend Crow, and God Acnoella…" he listed off, "Five of the six Oración Seis Galáctica are on Lendard as we speak," he said, "Why wouldn't the Union Army show up?" he questioned rhetorically.

"Who knows what would happen if number six were to show up…" Gowen muttered out.

"Attention to all ships," the voice of Victory echoed through the communication line. He was aboard the head flagship of Justice's fleet, the Angel Feather. "As of now, Elsie's fleet, plus the Edens Zero, have joined forces with Holy," he told his comrades, "On Justice's behalf, we're to treat them as friendlies for the time being," he mentioned.

"Copy that," Eraser replied from his ship, the Hot Eye.

"He knows that if we don't shoot them down eventually, they'll shoot us…" Feather remarked from her own flagship.

"Let's first deal with these Dragons that Acnoella's unleashed," Cure advised of his colleagues, being aboard his own flagship, the Brain Dust. Back upon the planet, Elsie found herself restrained by a pair of cuffs at her wrists, tied to a pole again as she was pushed down onto the ground in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse.

"Who the hell—?!"

"You should shut up, Princess…" a familiar voice interjected as she blinked in surprise. She looked to see who had captured her, noticing the familiar bowl cut hair of the man before her, along with the Union Army attire he donned. "Justice will deal with you soon," he vowed.

"Jesse…" Elsie uttered in shock.

X

"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Natalie roared as she incinerated yet another Dragon with her flames, which burned brightly as the lingered embers flickered up to Acnoella. She merely grinned, sticking her right hand out in command. Two of the massive beasts flew down towards the hybrid Dragon Slayer, who breathed heavily as she wiped away some sweat forming upon her cheek. She reignited her fists, charging forward.

One of the Dragons unleashed a hyperthermic laser from its mouth her way, which she jumped aside to evade. The other one was prepared to attack as she was stuck in midair, but she smirked, placing her right thumb across the palm of her hand and holding it at its base with her pointer finger. She suddenly rocketed upwards in a burst of fire, landing a fierce and fiery high-leg kick to the beast's head, causing it to topple over onto the ground below. Two more Dragons closed in, readying their talons to run their target through. She merely flew right over them, causing them to crash into each other.

"Hm," Acnoella huffed, "You certainly are unpredictable…" she admitted.

"That's what being a hero and a Fairy Tail wizard means," Natalie responded, letting off a smirk. Her opponent raised her right hand, enticing the other Dragons to move back. "Huh?" the hybrid Dragon Slayer uttered in confusion.

"I've grown tired of you bullying my children with your paltry tactics," the Oración Seis Galáctica member confessed as she hopped down onto the ground, "So I'll face you myself," she decided. Natalie blinked out of surprise, but then grinned.

"Bring it on!" she challenged as she landed down on the ground herself, "If I take you out, then your pets'll have nowhere to—!" Her remarks ceased as Acnoella instantaneously sped up to her, drawing her claws and slashing. The hybrid Dragon Slayer had narrowly managed to lean back in time to avoid a direct hit, but grimaced upon seeing the blood fly out from her new cuts.

"Sorry…" her foe apologized, "I tend to get a little carried away when I'm like this," she pointed out, "Thank you for angering me…" she said gratefully, while Natalie clenched her teeth. Elsewhere, the dust was settling as a dome of water was surrounding both Noelle and an injured Devlin.

"Damn…" the water mage cursed between heavy breaths. She was fortunate that she managed to conjure her dome of water to shield herself and her colleague in the nick of time before Justice's last attack. She looked back at the hybrid Osmosian, seeing him sit up against a nearby building. He had managed to heal his wound by himself, though it did cost him a great deal of his strength.

'To think that this guy would be able to take on all of us without so much as breaking much of a sweat…' Noelle noted inwardly as she glanced off into the distance, 'Can anyone stop him?' she wondered. Shirou and Justice restarted their clash, battling about the streets of Lendard as sparks flew between their blades upon striking each other. The Oración Seis Interestelar member sped around the auburn-haired mage after he attempted to swing his twin blades down onto him, kicking him right through a building as he crashed through its walls, tumbling into another.

"Gah…!" he yelped out in pain, opening his eyes and narrowly managing to move aside to evade his foe's katana, which he pierced through the wall behind him.

"I find it insulting that you call yourself a hero of justice…" he muttered out, "WHILE YOU'RE PROTECTING A CRIMINAL!" he roared angrily, swinging his blade down at Shirou, who barely managed to block the attack with both of his blades. He gritted his teeth, trying to stand his ground. He stared at the blade he was facing curiously, wondering where its strength lied. Before he could properly analyze it, he was sent sliding back along the ground, discarding his twin blades in a flash of light.

'Right now, I'm lacking in both speed and attack power…' he noted to himself, 'Attacking from a distance isn't going to work, since he can instantly catch up to me,' he added inwardly, 'My only option is defense, and even that's difficult to do right now…' he admitted through his thoughts.

"Meteor," Justice uttered, rocketing out at his target while enveloped in a blue light.

'In that case… I'll go for that!' the auburn-haired mage decided inwardly, sticking his left hand forward.

"I am the bone of my sword," he chanted, much to his foe's surprise as he closed in. Emerging from his palm was a magenta light that shaped into an iridescent flower with seven large petals. "Rho Aias!" Shirou exclaimed.

'A shield?' Justice uttered inwardly, 'It shouldn't be able to handle Meteor…' he affirmed inwardly with confidence, rocketing right into the energy barrier, using all of his might. He clenched his teeth together as he pushed against it, while his opponent felt his feet slide back slightly. However, he stood his ground, pushing back against the Oración Seis Interestelar member as he was knocked away, somersaulting and landing upon the ground before sliding to a stop. He looked up and gasped to find the auburn-haired mage now holding a matte black, western-style straight bow, with a simple design. Prepped upon it was not an arrow, but a pitch-black sword with a few small edges coiling around the thin core, spiraling around it and somewhat curving outward.

'Ranged attacks won't work… unless you're not expecting them!' Shirou noted inwardly as he let the sword fly off of the bow, heading straight for its intended target as a red light surrounded it. Justice's eyes widened before found himself struck, caught up in a powerful blast. The auburn-haired mage stared on, determined to defeat him.

Back in the ruined hospital-like setting of the subspace, Shiki wandered about the halls in search of his colleagues. He was already mentally kicking himself for letting Killer catch him off guard, not to mention separating him from his friends. But something else was still bothering him. He put his left hand up to the mark that appeared underneath his eye.

"Hey, can anyone read me?" he asked through the communication line, hoping to get a response. None came for a moment. And then…

"Master!" Pino's voice exclaimed.

"Pino!" the Satan Gravity Ether Gear user yelped, glad to hear her voice as he came to a stop, "Where are you?" he asked, "Are you okay?" he questioned on.

"Yes," the little android responded, elsewhere in the ruined hospital setting with Happy, Rebecca, and Rin, "We were sent to another subdimension where we had to face a fake version of one of the Dark Stars," she explained, causing the Cat Leaper Ether Gear user to tense up in frustration.

"Same thing happened with me and Shoto…" Shiki confirmed to the group's surprise, "Guess that means they've got other jobs to do aside from taking us down…" he pointed out, "So where are you guys?" he asked again.

"I believe we are in the same setting, as are Mister Weisz and Mister Azari, and Mister Shoto, too," Pino confirmed in reply, "I am uploading coordinates to all parties to you," she added. Through his left eye, Shiki could see the pinpointed locations through the subspace.

"Got 'em," he confirmed, "I'll meet up with you guys first," he decided, jogging on ahead. All of a sudden though, he felt a weight come down onto him. "Wha…? Again?!" he yelped out, seeing the world around him change.

"Ether… a power that flows through all things," a familiar voice said, causing him to blink in surprise as he could see the world around him growing clearer, revealing a figure dressed in a plain dress shirt and flannel pants with shoes. It was Killer, though he lacked the facial marking and stitches around his eyes, which also had regular pupils instead of dots. "When it reaches its critical point, we call that Overdrive," he explained while tossing a rock up and down in his right hand, "So for example…" he continued as he caught the rock, "if the Ether of this rock reached its critical point, do you think it could Overdrive?" he asked of the person beside him. Looking over, Shiki widened his eyes. Seated next to the Dark Star was Hermit, though she lacked her own markings and bodysuit, dressed in a sailor girl school uniform.

"You always have the strangest perspectives…" she commented.

'Hermit?!' Shiki exclaimed inwardly, wondering what exactly he was seeing.

"Still… it may theoretically be possible," the Shining Star admitted to the young man beside her, "It would have to be true for everything, though," she pointed out, "Mountains, oceans, this whole planet," she listed off, "If something's Ether reaches that critical point, I'm sure it could Overdrive," she affirmed confidently with a smile. Blinking, Shiki found himself back in reality.

"It happened again…" he said, putting his right hand up to his head, "What are these memories…?" he wondered aloud. With the healing yellow light expelled onto her arm from Sister, Alice could see the patch of her skin turn back to normal back aboard the Edens Zero. She gave the Life of Edens a smile of gratitude, making her smirk. They turned to the pair of Dark Stars, ready to battle them.

"This seems a little unfair, given the extra otherworlder in the mix…" Clown remarked aloud.

"That doesn't matter," Killer affirmed, getting his attention, "I'll send her to a nice little place that'll be her grave," he declared, having holographic keys appear around him, "Running Subdimension Program," he confirmed as he typed quickly upon the appearing icons. Sister and Alice looked around to see hexagons of light materializing around them.

"What's he doing…?" the ice and water mage asked nervously.

"He's trying to trap us in a cage that'll be perfect for them to fight us in…" Sister responded, "Cheeky bastard…" she muttered with a smirk.

"That's not happening!" Hermit declared, making holographic keyboards appear around herself as well, "Scene Manager Disabling Code!" she exclaimed as she typed rapidly. The hexagons of light disappeared instantaneously, much to Killer's shock.

"Ooh~," Clown sang, "Guess she caught you by surprise, Li'l Kill…" he remarked to his colleague, who scoffed.

"Amateur," Hermit said, "You think you could even beat me without even changing into a Battle Dress?" she presumed of her opponent.

"Heh," he chuckled, charging forward, "And did you think you could beat me with a little wardrobe change?" he inquired back, "Unlike you, I'm designed to access the superior power of Overdrive…" he mentioned as he typed on a few holographic keys that appeared beside him. Dark orange Ether-lines trailed along his body as it started to morph, with him taking on a crazed grin as his hair grew out. However, Hermit smirked. A blue light shrouded her own body as it morphed as well, much to her incoming foe's shock.

Her appearance changed drastically, gaining an older looking body. Her hair became more voluminous and longer. A pair of wing-like protrusions appeared on her upper arms, along with a pair of rabbit ear-like extensions from her headphones. Killer's eyes were shaking.

"So was I," the Mind of Edens said.

X

"Hup!" Yuji yelped as he flipped over a Brigandine's charge, resulting in it crashing into more machinery. As it tried to get up, Luck blitzed right through it in a burst of lightning, blasting it into pieces.

"Aw, this is getting too easy…!" he complained.

"Voltia, would you please stop saying that?!" Tenya shouted in question, "I'd rather you not jinx us when we're doing what we can to destroy this factory!" he pointed out seriously.

"I get that, but this isn't any fun…" Luck muttered out, blitzing through another Killer.

'He does bring up a good point, though…' Tanjiro noted inwardly. As many duplicate Dark Stars there were to face, the Omni Force members were managing to deal with them handily. It wouldn't be long before the factory would be taken over. Yet something felt off. The Demon Slayer looked over to the Wizard he had smelled earlier. His scent was still different from the rest of the androids. Just then, he saw him dash off.

"Hey, watch out!" he called out to his colleagues, getting their attentions as they saw the Dark Star charge in.

"Cosmic Lightning," he uttered, unleashing a discharge of dark lightning streaks from his spear. They struck the likes of Tenya, Eijiro, and Klaus, making them cry out in pain before they fell over.

"Guys!" Tsuyu cried out as she leapt to the trio. The Dark Star continued his charge, closing in on Fumikage next.

"Dark Shadow!" he called out, causing the shadowy entity within him to emerge, taking on a massive form. Spinning his spear into a tighter grip, the android slammed it against the ground.

"Black Blaze," he said as Dark Shadow lunged for him. All of a sudden, a massive pillar of fire erupted beneath the shadowy entity, striking it and causing it to screech with agony.

"Ergh… Dark Shadow!" Fumikage grunted out as the entity's body shrunk down, retreating back to him.

"Thunder Breathing…" Zenitsu began, speeding over alongside Luck.

"Lightning Magic…" he started to echo, cladding his hands and feet in turquoise electricity. Wizard spotted the pair closing in on him.

"You're both quite fast," he commented, raising his spear.

"Thunderclap and Flash!" the demon slayer exclaimed.

"Thunder Fiend!" Luck bellowed.

"But sadly, too slow for me," Wizard remarked, unleashing a powerful burst of air to blow both of his foes back.

"Wh-What the heck?!" Zenitsu stammered out.

'He's not focusing on taking us down…' Tanjiro noted inwardly, trying to keep track of where Wizard was heading, also noticing that those who'd been attacked by the Dark Star were regaining their footing. He blinked in surprise.

"Miss Uraraka, watch out!" he yelled to Ochaco, who had just evaded the blade of a Killer.

"Huh?" she uttered in surprise, turning her head to see the incoming Wizard. He wrapped his right arm around her waist, speeding off with her.

"Ochaco!" Tsuyu cried out, extending her tongue out in an attempt to catch the Dark Star, only for him to leap away and evade it in a burst of wind.

"Hey, put me down!" the Zero Gravity Quirk user commanded, pressing her fingertips against the android's body as a flash of pink light emitted from them.

"Thank you for that," he remarked gratefully to her surprise, "I feel light as a feather," he noted as the likes of Tanjiro, Yuji and Tenya closed in, attempting to attack, "My mission to capture you will be complete in an instant," he affirmed as he opened his eyes.

"Wait, what?" Ochaco uttered in confusion. A greenish-gold luminosity enveloped the Dark Star's body as his appearance was changing.

"Now what?!" the jujutsu sorcerer yelped.

"This looks like the same kind of transformation the Shining Stars utilize!" Tenya pointed out.

"Then that means…!" Tanjiro started to realize. The light around their foe vanished, revealing that he had equipped a black suit of armoring with green energy wings appearing off of his back, with the coattails of his robe hanging over his legs and a metallic guard over the frame of his face, giving him the appearance of having elf-like ears.

"Assault Wizard," he said, "I'll be dealing with you all later," he affirmed, rocketing off instantaneously to everyone's shock.

"Uraraka, no!" Eijiro yelled, barely able to see the pair leaving the factory. Outside, Momo took notice of the blur that was the Zero Gravity Quirk user being carried away by the Dark Star.

"M'gann!" she called out to the Martian alongside her.

"Got it!" she responded, closing her eyes in concentration. Meanwhile, Ochaco braced herself from the force of the wind as she was being carried away.

'Uraraka, can you hear me?!' Momo's voice echoed in her head, causing her eyes to jolt open.

'Yaomomo!' she exclaimed inwardly, 'So this is M'gann's psychic link, right?' she presumed, 'Sorry, I got myself caught…' she apologized.

'Don't worry, we can head after you right now!' the Creation Quirk user assured, about to go off with Ninny and Noel while boarding the latter's Broombuggy.

'No, wait!' Ochaco insisted to their surprise, 'This guy said his mission was to capture me for some reason…' she noted to her colleagues, 'After I find out what, you guys can come get me!' she affirmed.

'You sure you're gonna be alright on your own?!' Ninny questioned emphatically through the telepathic link they shared.

'Yeah…' the Zero Gravity Quirk user responded, 'I don't think they want to kill me…' she pointed out, 'You guys just focus on taking out the factory!' she insisted.

'Uraraka…' Momo uttered. Zora scoffed.

"So what's the plan, Miss Princess?" he asked of her. She clenched her fists determinedly.

"I'm going to create explosives to be planted upon the factory," she decided, "I'll need you all to help set them," she mentioned to her colleagues, "M'gann, link us up with the others in the factory," she advised, opening her costume at her navel as a multicolored light began expelling from it.

"Right," the Martian responded with a nod, closing her eyes and concentrating.

'Uraraka… I'll trust your judgment,' Momo affirmed inwardly, 'Once we destroy this factory, we'll come find you!' she vowed through her thoughts. Elsewhere upon the planet, Crow's fist collided with that of Way Big's, resulting in a shockwave that blew America, Jaime and Jessica back.

"Yeah, keep it up, Ken!" the armored hero of the trio cheered. The Oración Seis Galáctica member fired off lasers from his eyes, which the To'kustar narrowly ducked away from as they pierced through a building nearby, causing it to topple over.

"This really the best you brats've got?!" he inquired, rearing his right fist back for a heavy punch.

"BLACCCKKKK…" a familiar voice started to bellow as a dark streak of light shot up from below. Crow glanced over to see Asta shooting his way up, assuming his dark form with four horns and both wings grown and two black marks traced up his neck to his forehead, crossing over his eyes, both of which had turned red and had vertically-slit pupils. "DIIIIVVIIIDDDERRRRRRRRRR!" he roared, swinging up an enlarged Demon-Slayer Sword as it lopped off the titanic android's right arm.

"Huh?" he uttered in surprise. Smirking, Way Big lunged over and landed a haymaker with his right fist to the Oración Seis Galáctica member's head, causing him to stumble back.

"Nice going there, Asta!" Yuno complimented as the anti-magic user flew up beside him.

"Heh…" he chuckled out, "Had to make him think I was done for…" he noted, wiping some sweat off his face as his Demon-Slayer Sword shrunk back to normal.

"With just one arm, his defenses are pretty much down now," Laguna noted from his starfighter.

"Holy, now's your best chance!" Sylph called out from her own ship. Descending onto the scene was the Oración Seis Interestelar member inside the Steel Sorceress.

"Thank you for giving me the opening, dear Asta," she said gratefully, "I'll take it from here," she declared.

"Hey, has anyone heard from Hermit about the main cannon?" Jessica inquired.

"We've put a pause on that for the moment, lass," Connor's voice chimed in over the communication line.

"Connor?" the Green Lantern uttered in surprise, "Wait, where's Hermit?" she asked over the intercom. The portly man was the lone person aboard the Edens Zero's bridge.

"There's been a situation that both she and Sister are taking care of right now," he told his colleagues, "But I'm confident we can bring this monster down with what we have now!" he affirmed, "Don't lose focus, lads!" he insisted of the others.

"Trust me, we won't," America assured as she cracked her knuckles.

"Let's try taking out his left arm, too," Jaime advised.

"We've got this…" Jessica affirmed quietly, taking on a confident expression.

X

FLASHBACK

"Wait, you're saying you two can Overdrive?!" Rebecca exclaimed in question to both Hermit and Sister in the Edens Kitchen, gathered with Shiki, Happy, Pino, and Riri.

"Well, not exactly…" the Mind of Edens admitted, "To be accurate, if we're properly modded to match what would be viable for our bodies to Overdrive," she started explaining, "we can do it," she confirmed.

"But what about your Battle Dresses?" the Cat Leaper Ether Gear user asked.

"That works better for some people more than others, like Witch and Valkyrie," Sister responded, causing her to blink in surprise before lowering her head with shame.

"You wanna get stronger…" Shiki noted, "So what do you need us to do?" he asked with crossed arms.

"Riri's gonna help us with our mods," Hermit told him in reply, "We'll have Weisz and Pino assist when needed, especially when it comes to the intricacies of our blueprints," she explained on.

"Once the mods are done, we'll have to test them to make sure they work to the specifications we want," Sister mentioned.

"Is it necessary for you to go through all of this, though?" Pino inquired out of concern. The Mind of Edens stood up.

"Shiki…" she began, "you're not the only one who wants to face Ziggy and put a stop to him," she pointed out, "He was our friend, too," she added, clenching her fists tightly. Sister let off a little grin. "So we're going to get as strong as we need to be in order to fight," her fellow android declared.

"Then we better get to it," Riri advised, making both Shining Stars nod.

END FLASHBACK

With her transformation completed, Hermit gave off a smirk toward Killer, whose eyes were shaking. He had no idea that his foe could even access Overdrive in the first place, assuming it was something out of her reach. He didn't even have a moment to properly react as she dashed out and landed a fierce right hook to his face.

"GUAH…!" he gasped out, falling over to his right. The Mind of Edens followed with a powerful kick from her right leg to his head, sending him tumbling back along the floor. He managed to somersault his way back onto his feet, grimacing from taking two powerful blows. "Impossible…!" he growled, "This is way beyond any of the data I had on her…" he muttered.

"Incredible…" Alice uttered out in amazement.

"Damn right," Sister remarked with a smirk, "With Overdrive, Hermit's pretty much unstoppable," she affirmed, "And she got herself a nice rack to boot…" she commented on as she put a hand upon her chin.

"I… don't think that's important…" the ice and water mage noted as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of her head.

"Yo, Hermit!" the Life of Edens called out, "Try not to trash everything in the hangar, 'kay?" she advised, "Heh," she chuckled as she turned, "Alright, joker boy…" she began to who she assumed was Clown, "you ready to get this…?" She stopped herself upon noticing that the Dark Star was no longer in the hangar. "He dipped?!" she exclaimed in shock.

"He can't be far!" Alice assured, running off, "Let's hurry!" she insisted.

"Damn it, you're not gonna run around our ship unsupervised!" Sister remarked in frustration, hurrying after the ice and water mage.

"Where could he have gone…?" she wondered while unconsciously throwing off her pants, much to the Life of Edens' bewilderment. However, she was snapped away from her stupor as she blinked.

"I'm getting a signal up ahead!" she confirmed to her colleague, "The door on the left!" she called out.

"Got it!" Alice responded, veering in the direction she was told, heading toward a door that automatically opened for her and Sister. They both blinked in surprise as they came to a stop, finding themselves in the Edens Spa. "Why would he come here?" the ice and water mage wondered. The Mind of Edens looked out and growled.

"Enjoying a bath, you damn joker?" she remarked callously to the Dark Star, who was floating in the warm water in the middle of the spa.

"Aaahhh~…" he sighed contently, "I really do love such large communal baths," he commented, "Would you ladies care to join me?" he offered to his foes.

"You think this is some kinda game, punk…?" Sister muttered in question, "Huh?!" she yelled, while Alice hopped into the water.

"You picked the wrong place to run to," she remarked, taking on a ready stance, "Whether it be by my ice or water, you might as well give up," she insisted.

"On the contrary, I think picked the perfect place, given your overconfidence…" Clown retorted with a sinister grin. The Fairy Tail wizard blinked in surprise, followed by noticing ominous wisps of smoke coming up from the water. It started bubbling, turning from a luminescent pink to a dark purple, which spread beneath the ice and water mage before she could react.

"Is that…?!" she gasped out, noticing purple patches spreading along the skin of her legs.

"Water is life…" the Dark Star said, "but in my hands, it turns to poison," he noted as he floated up to the surface and stepped forward, "I am the Death of Edens…" he introduced, "And I'll grant you both an inescapable demise…" he declared ominously. Back in the hospital-like subspace, Shiki veered around another corner.

"Rebecca? Happy? Pino? Rin?" he called out. Suddenly, something burst out from one of the doors, much to his surprise as he came to a stop. He paled upon seeing that it was a giant, mechanical centipede. "A b-bug?!" he stuttered out in panic. All of a sudden though, it was blasted to pieces by several rounds of blue energy blasts from behind. The Satan Gravity Ether Gear user blinked twice, followed by looking out and widening his eyes.

"Shiki, are you okay?!" Rebecca questioned as she ran over, having her Happy Blasters in hand with Pino and Rin tailing behind her.

"Yeah, thanks…" the Oración Seis Galáctica member responded, "What about you guys?" he asked back.

"Fine for the most part," the mage of the group answered, while the Cat Leaper Ether Gear user let her twin blasters reform back into Happy, "We're worried about what the real Dark Stars could be after…" she noted.

"They're probably gonna be going after the Shining Stars, wouldn't they?" Shiki presumed.

"That is a sound assumption," Pino concurred, "I do hope that Sister and Hermit can stop them," she mentioned out of worry.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Pino," Rebecca noted confidently, "More importantly, we need to find the others and get out of this place," she insisted.

"Getting out's gonna be a problem, especially since that Killer guy could be anywhere…" Happy pointed out.

"Let's worry about finding the others first before that guy," Shiki advised.

"Don't bother, he's another fake," a familiar voice chimed in, belonging to Azari as he trudged into the hall with Weisz's right arm draped over his shoulders.

"Azari! Weisz!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"Are you alright?!" Pino asked immediately.

"Uh, that blood doesn't seem 'alright'…" Happy commented as sweat trickled down his head.

"It's not as bad as it looks…" the Machina Maker Ether Gear user assured as he removed his arm from Azari's shoulders, "I managed to put up a Protection Matrix to block most of the bullets sent my way," he told his friends, "But I still screwed up…" he admitted, "I was pathetic…" he grumbled.

"Weisz…" Rebecca uttered worriedly.

"I let him trick me with a hologram of someone who couldn't possibly be here…" the Machina Maker Ether Gear user noted, "If it wasn't for Azari saving my ass, I'd be dead for sure," he confessed.

"Yeah… they almost got me with that trick, too," Shiki responded, only to blink in realization, "Wait… did you say that Killer was another fake?" he inquired of the Wakandan prince, who nodded.

"Seems like the real one made the subdimension and had the fakes distract us," he pointed out.

"For what exactly, we don't know," Rin chimed in.

"In any case, this dimension is not safe," Pino noted.

"Yeah, we gotta get outta here after we find Shoto, Homura, and Inosuke," Happy instructed of the group.

"Homura and Inosuke are still in the coliseum, so we don't need to worry about them," Shiki confirmed, "As for Shoto…" he continued. Suddenly, an explosion of flames erupted down the hall, getting their attentions as they turned with widened eyes. Walking out from one of the doors with steam wafting from his body was the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user, who exhaled a heavy breath of fatigue.

"Mister Shoto!" Pino cried out, running over alongside Shiki and Rebecca.

"You alright?!" the Satan Gravity Ether Gear user immediately asked, "What happened?!" he questioned on.

"That bastard… he put me in a gauntlet against hundreds of his drones…" Shoto answered in between breaths, "I just finished off the last of them…" he pointed out as he sighed with relief.

"Well, it's good to see you alive at least…" Rebecca commented.

"Now all we need to find our way out of here," Rin chimed in, putting her hands onto her hips, "Though I imagine it's next to impossible without someone like that Killer…" she presumed.

"No… I can do it," Weisz affirmed, getting her attention as the others approached.

"Weisz…" Azari uttered, seeing his colleague's Ether Gear markings shine a bright yellow.

"When I was modding the place earlier, I was getting a feel for it," he pointed out, "Even if it's a subdimension, it's basically still just a program trapping us in," he affirmed on, "So I'm gonna remodel the whole damn thing… and get us back," he declared with a grin. The others smiled back.

"I wonder how Inosuke and Homura are faring against the last Dark Star…" Rin said curiously with a look of concern.

"If it's another fake like the others, they'll be fine," Azari assured in response, "Do your thing, Weisz," he advised of the Machina Maker Ether Gear user, who nodded as he crouched down, placing his right hand upon the floor. With a deep breath, he concentrated.

'Mom… I'm gonna help my friends win this fight,' he vowed inwardly.

X

"Ergh…" Torunn groaned from the infirmary as both Mimosa and Henry watched over her, seated beside her bed. They could feel the rumbles of the battles raging outside, causing them to flinch.

"This is nuts…" the Avenger commented.

"Yeah…" the Golden Dawn mage agreed, clenching her fists over her knees. Back in the hangar, Ether lines extended around Hermit's right arm as she landed a powerful cross to Killer's head, knocking him down onto the floor.

"GWAH…!" he yelped out, skidding back. He clenched his teeth, making dark orange energy lines spread around him as he extended his right fist out. The holes formed from the lines shot out a series of cylindrical missiles towards his target. However, the Mind of Edens flipped and weaved her way away from each of them as they struck the ground in explosions. "What?!" her foe exclaimed in disbelief as she skidded to a stop.

"When I'm in Overdrive, my Ballistics Projection Simulator is always running," she confirmed, typing on a set of holographic keys that appeared under her right hand, "Sorry, but your guns aren't gonna work on me!" she remarked to his frustration, "And by the way, your luck ran out the second you snuck into this hangar," she mentioned as she quickly swiped at her holographic keys. The Dark Star then noticed all of the firearms in the area suddenly start floating over, heading towards him. "Every weapon we keep here…" his foe began as the weapons aimed at her opponent, "is network-linked to me," she confirmed with a smirk, making him widen his eyes in shock, "Guns Harvest!" she exclaimed, having the weapons unleash sprays of bullets onto Killer, resulting in multiple explosions that engulfed him.

"GWAHH! AGHH!" he screamed with agony as he kept getting bombarded, "AAAAAUUUGGGGHHHHH!" he bellowed out before the barrage finally subsided. Smoke emitted from his body, which was riddled completely with burns and other damage. All of the weapons were still trained upon him, as Hermit held her right pointer finger forward.

"Do you really wanna keep going?" she inquired of her foe.

"…She said in the illusion," he remarked right behind her, invisible to her eyes. The Overdrive form of himself staggered forward through the smoke. "Poor thing…" he muttered, "So proud of yourself for such a flawless victory," he noted, "And yet, you have no idea that you've been fighting a hologram all this time…" he added with a chuckle. The fake illusion of himself charged at Hermit, who blocked his attack with her left arm and knee. All the while, the real Dark Star watched on. "This was all just a fictitious story I created with my programming," he said, "And you fell for it, Mind of Edens," he mentioned, extending his tentacle-like cable out toward her, "The real me is behind you," he confirmed, plugging the cable into her back as she gasped.

"Wha…?!" she exclaimed, slowly turning her head, only to see nothing there. All of a sudden, dark orange Ether lines began spreading along her body from behind. "Ah… Ahhh…!" she gasped out, trembling with agony, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked.

"That's right…" Killer uttered, "Let the darkness corrupt you as you join our side…" he said as more tentacle-like cables protruded from his back, plugging into the arms and legs of the Shining Star.

"A virus has been detected. Recovery protocol failure. Detecting hardware failure." The program voices echoing from Hermit's corrupted body were music to the Dark Star's ears. Not only would he have taken her out of the picture, but also added another ally to his side's forces.

"…And so it goes in the scenario where I'm sure you think your hologram is fooling me," her voice said behind him, causing his eyes to widen in shock, "Sorry, but I'm pretty good at lifelike Three-D holograms, too," she noted apologetically while typing on a few holographic keys with her left hand, "The real me is behind you," she remarked as her foe started to turn, only to see her rear her right fist back, "LOGICAL ARM BLAST!" she roared, slamming her extremity into his face with all of her might, resulting in an explosive impact that made smoke emit from the Dark Star's head.

"How… did you know…?!" he questioned as he started to topple over.

"I managed to extract the data from your fight against Weisz and Azari," Hermit answered as she transformed back to normal in a flash of light, "Thanks to that, I was able to predict your battle style…" she pointed out.

"You… extracted it…?!" he inquired as he collapsed onto the floor.

"Yeah… it was easy with you being here…" the Mind of Edens retorted in reply, "You really thought you could beat me in programming?" she presumed of her defeated foe, "Though I guess this time, I should thank those guys…" she admitted sheepishly, wiping the sweat of her right cheek.

X

Leaping around the buildings of Lendard with Nezuko still resting on his back, Izuku checked the markers of his MPG, seeing the indicated ones not far from his location. However, he also spotted a few nearby. He glanced over and widened his eyes slightly.

"Fushiguro! Silva!" he called out, having spotted the jujutsu sorcerer and the Black Bull mage together with the injured Katsuki, Francis, and Devlin.

"Midoriya…" the former of the group said, seeing the One For All inheritor land down in front of him and the others.

"What happened?" he asked immediately in worry.

"That Justice guy…" Noelle answered, "We were all trying to slow him down while letting Elsie and the others get away…" she told him.

"Bakugo and I were already pretty strained from fighting off Ziggy earlier," Megumi mentioned, while the One For All inheritor looked over to his downed rival, "Those guys might need help," he inferred.

"What about Shiki and the others?" Izuku asked.

"They're all in one place," Francis chimed in as a response, getting his attention as he looked over to see the archer with his MPG in hand, having a holographic map appear over it with eight distinct icons, "Got MPG signals coming northwest of here, about a couple miles out," he told the One For All inheritor.

"Hmmm…" he hummed, wondering what exactly to do.

"Deku…" Katsuki grunted out as he awoke, sitting up slowly.

"Kacchan!" his rival yelped in surprise.

"Go find Granbell and the others and get to the core," the Explosion Quirk user insisted to his surprise, "We'll deal with whatever crap that Justice bastard or anyone else throws our way," he affirmed as he grimaced.

"Yeah, he's right," Noelle agreed with a nod, "Operation Starbiter's the most important part of our attack, so we need to make sure it goes off," she advised firmly.

"Midoriya, don't go worrying about us right now," Megumi insisted, "Just protect Bluegarden," he said.

"Right," Izuku responded with a firm nod, while Nezuko awoke, letting her nose twitch. She then let out a gasp as her eyes widened.

"Inosuke!" she exclaimed to everyone's surprise, "Inosuke's nearby!" she confirmed.

"Alright, we're off then!" the One For All inheritor decided, letting sparks of green bio-electricity crackle off of his body before leaping away.

"Agh…" Devlin groaned, "You sure we shouldn't go with them?" he inquired of Megumi.

"Right now, we're still recovering," he pointed out in reply, "Once we're all feeling good enough, we'll head out and join different fronts," he noted, "We've still got enemies like Ultron and Acnoella to worry about…" he mentioned.

"I'll help take care of that dragon bitch…" Katsuki grumbled as he got onto his feet.

"I'll go with him," Devlin decided.

"Then Silva and I can go to help stop Ultron," Megumi confirmed for himself and the Black Bull, who nodded, "Barton, you coming with us?" he inquired of the Avenger, who chuckled.

"If it's to stop Ultron, hell yeah," he affirmed in response. Elsewhere upon the planet, Riri flew about the towering factory buildings, scanning everything she could through her suit's H.U.D. in search of her foe. Sweat was trickling down her face. She knew this fight was bound to come… but never imagined that it would come about like this. Just then, a warning flashed in front of her eyes, making her gasp. She narrowly evaded a missile shot her way, seeing it soar by up into the sky, promptly exploding.

What followed was her suddenly getting tackled from behind, tumbling through the air with whomever had attacked. She growled, firing off a repulsor blast from her right hand to separate herself from her new foe. Hovering in the air as she righted herself, she saw that her enemy was in fact Ultron.

"Riri Williams," he addressed, "You're all alone," he pointed out.

"Yeah… that was kinda my plan," the Avenger confirmed, firing off a powerful ray of blue light from the reactor at her chest. Her android foe merely held his left hand out, blocking the beam as the rays that spread out in different directions struck some of the nearby buildings in small explosions. Grimacing, the armored hero ceased the beam.

"Tony Stark's successor looking to take out his greatest failure herself…" Ultron noted aloud, chuckling, "That's amusing…" he remarked.

"Wait… didn't Doctor Pym create you?" Riri inquired.

"Stark collaborated with him, making me a little more… technopathic than they'd like," he told her in response, "I'm sure he told you everything about me, how I almost destroyed the Avengers in their universe, along with those children they stole from Three-One-One-Six…" he noted on, readying his right hand. All of a sudden, Riri felt something pull her in, causing her to yelp as she was dragged magnetically to her foe. He grabbed her by her helmet, flying her down toward the ground below. "And now, he'll have more blood on his hands…" he concluded before slamming the armored Avenger into the ground hard. She gasped in pain, kicking him off of her before releasing a volley of mini-missiles from her back.

The android flew up and evaded most of them as they exploded against each other, followed by magnetically making two buildings topple over. Widening her eyes underneath her helmet, Riri dashed away into the air as they crashed onto the ground in a flurry of dust. She then buzzing nearby, turning to find several drones flying towards her, unleashing a volley of laser blasts her way. She was ready to counter them, but suddenly, her body seized up. She managed to look back and see that Ultron had caught her in his magnetism once more.

"You shouldn't have come alone, Riri," he told her, "Not that it would've mattered in the end," he added callously. The armored Avenger could do nothing but grimace as she was bombarded by laser blasts, screaming all the while as she was sent tumbling through the air, with pieces of her armor breaking off.

"Armor integrity at forty-five percent…" an Irish voice noted to her from her suit, while she was slipping in and out of consciousness.

'Why do you wanna be an Avenger, anyway?' another voice in her head echoed, just as she crashed into the ground.

X

"I don't… get it…" Killer grunted out, having cracks upon his face as wisps of smoke came out from them, "My CPU… should have a higher performance… than yours…!" he proclaimed, still downed upon the hangar floor of the Edens Zero, with Hermit looking over him.

"In terms of your functionality, yeah…" she responded to his surprise, "But we're onboard the Edens Zero," she pointed out, "And I can access the ship's network and add all of its specs to mine," she mentioned, "So in other words…" she continued as she approached the downed Dark Star, "you lost the second you came aboard the ship," she stated. Killer gritted his teeth… but then flashed a grin.

"I see…" he said, "Then I guess we can call this a draw for now…" he decided, typing new commands upon the holographic icons that appeared around his right hand. Hermit blinked in surprise as she saw his body glow briefly before promptly exploding.

"A self-destruction command…?!" she yelped out, having brought up an energy barrier made up of hexagonal panels. The smoke was slow to settle.

'Why would he call it a draw and then blow himself to bits…?' the Shining Star wondered, 'In any case, I should go help Sister and Alice deal with the other one before—' As she was about to finish her thought, Hermit felt her body seize up. She looked over to her right arm, widening her eyes in fright to see the purple veins spreading along it.

"What the?!" she exclaimed, seeing the veins spread all across her body, "He's… infecting me?!" she screamed out, dropping onto her knees as she clenched her teeth.

'Now I get it…!' she grunted inwardly, 'That self-destruct was a cover for what he was really up to…!' she realized, 'Not good…!' she remarked through her thoughts, 'With me having just used Overdrive, I won't be able to stop him…!' she noted to herself.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked in agony.

'That's right, I'm not dying for nothing…' Killer's voice echoed in her head, 'I'll destroy your 'heart', and complete our mission!' he proclaimed.

"Everyone all accounted for?" Rebecca asked of her colleagues in the subdimension.

"Yeah, this should be all of us," Shiki confirmed in response, followed by hearing a sudden rumble.

"What was that?" Happy asked. Just then, panels of the walls were peeling away, revealing an empty space beyond the hospital halls. "Wh-Wh-What the heck?!" the android feline stammered in shock.

"It appears the subdimension is breaking down!" Pino noted.

"That must mean something happened to the one who created it!" Rin presumed.

"Either way, we gotta get outta here!" Shiki insisted of his friends, "Weisz!" he called out.

"Yeah, on it!" the Machina Maker Ether Gear user responded, taking a deep breath as he concentrated, letting his yellow markings shine brightly. He tapped a few icons that appeared beside him, following by swiping his right hand forward. "Here goes nothing!" he exclaimed. A bright flash of light enveloped him and his friends as they braced themselves. The whole area turned into a luminous setting before the group found themselves falling down, landing upon the dirt ground that was in the coliseum.

"We're back!" Shoto immediately confirmed.

"Nice work, Weisz," Azari complimented of the Machina Maker Ether Gear user, who wiped away some sweat trickling down the side of his head.

"Yeah, thanks…" he responded with a chuckle, exhaling a deep breath. Meanwhile, Shiki looked around curiously. A lot of dust had seemingly been billowing up.

"It's quiet," he noted with narrowed eyes.

"Indeed…" Rin agreed, "Knowing Homura and Inosuke, they'd be causing a ruckus fighting that giant android," she pointed out.

"So… where are they?" Rebecca asked as she took a step forward, only to hear something crack beneath her feet. She glanced down to see that it was a piece of metal that she had stepped on. "Whoa!" she yelped out as she quickly moved back, getting the others' attentions, "Almost cut my foot open…" she muttered with a sigh of relief.

"Wait a minute…" Rin uttered, crouching down to inspect the metal as she grabbed a piece, "This looks like… it came from a sword…" she noted, only to gasp in realization. She looked around before spotting the familiar clothed hilt with other pieces of metal around it. "This is Inosuke's sword!" she pointed out to everyone's shock.

"That's not a good sign…" Weisz said with a grimace.

"Homura! Inosuke!" Shiki called out, "You guys okay?!" he yelled in question as the dust was starting to settle. At the other end of the arena was a large stalagmite-like mechanism, which Brigandine was facing. The dust blew away, and everyone widened their eyes.

"No…" Rebecca uttered out as tears pricked her eyes.

"Seriously…?" Shoto growled, clenching his teeth.

"I didn't think they'd lose, especially if this guy's a fake like the others…" Azari admitted, having his Panther Habit's helmet materialize over his head. Lying against the mechanical stalagmite with blood trickling down her body was Homura. Downed on the ground beside her with a single serrated sword in hand was Inosuke, who was in a pool of blood himself.

"Homura… Inosuke…" Shiki uttered in disbelief, looking over at Brigandine.

"They were both valiant warriors," he remarked to the Satan Gravity Ether Gear user, whose eyes trembled.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed out. Back in the Edens Spa, Alice grimaced as the poison spread up her legs. She collapsed to her knees in a yelp as the liquid receded away from her, watching as Clown sauntered forward. Growling, the ice and water mage threw her left arm out, releasing a torrent of liquid that her foe bent back to evade.

"Woo~!" he sang out, giggling afterwards, "I wouldn't overexert yourself," he advised of the Fairy Tail wizard, whose breath grew shaky. The poison had already spread up to her midsection. "One my poison seeps into your brain, you won't be able to move again…" the Dark Star told her. At that moment, he narrowly managed to duck in time to avoid getting lashed by Sister's bladed whip that she had drawn.

"Not if I've got anything to say about it, you damn joker!" she shouted out, "Alice, get outta here!" she insisted of the ice and water mage, "I'll fix you up after I trash this piece of shit…" she promised.

"Sister…" the Fairy Tail wizard weakly uttered, trying to crawl away. Clown didn't seem to care, focusing his attention on the Shining Star before him.

"Someone once said that machines are alive," he told her, causing her to blink in confusion, "Which means, like any living creature, machines can die," he pointed out.

"Yeah, that goes without saying, jackass…" Sister concurred.

"Then tell me this," Clown requested rhetorically, "What would death be to a machine?" he inquired, "Malfunction? Total breakdown?" he listed off in question as Alice crawled her way out of the emptied bath.

"Isn't either the case?" the Life of Edens assumed of her foe.

"…No… I don't think so…" he responded with an ominous grin, lunging forward, "Once a machine can't execute an order, they're good as dead," he stated, "That makes them trash, more worthless than even a human!" he remarked callously. He threw out his right fist for a punch, which Sister leaned back from. She gripped her whip and lashed it out at her opponent, only for him to weave aside each attempted blow.

He managed to clock her with an uppercut to her chin, but it gave her the opening to catch him by his wrist with her weapon, allowing her to fling him away with ease as he tumbled along the bath floor, coming to a stop. He was still grinning, much to his foe's annoyance as she scoffed. She looked over at Alice, noticing that the poison had spread up to underneath her chest.

"So, what'd your 'master' Ziggy order you to do?" she asked of Clown.

"Why eliminate the Shining Stars, of course," he responded.

"Heh," Sister chuckled, "Guess that means you're not gonna be able to follow your orders," she proclaimed confidently.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that…" the Dark Star remarked back to her surprise, "Witch is already gone," he pointed out, making her tense up, "Hermit's being corrupted by Killer as we speak…" he mentioned, causing her to widen her eyes, "And Homura… is dead," he stated, causing her to gasp, "That makes you the last one standing," he noted as a light enveloped his body as it began to transform.

"Hermit's corrupted? Homura's dead?!" Sister shouted out, "Screw that! No way they're kicking the bucket!" she proclaimed angrily.

"Oh, don't you worry," Clown assured as he had taken on his nightmarish appearance, "You'll soon get to die like them," he vowed.

"Like hell I will!" the Shining Star exclaimed as she shot forward.

"Sister…!" Alice gasped out, catching her attention. She looked over to see that the ice and water mage's poison had spread all the way up to her neck.

'Shit…!' she cursed out, pivoting as she was about to go over and help her.

"For our final act…" Clown began as he snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, a giant, lion-like beast appeared behind the Shining Star, having four eyes and a pair of horns.

"What?!" she yelped out upon spotting it.

"Here's our wild animal show," the Death of Edens said just before the beast chomped down on Sister.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed.

"Sister… no…!" Alice grunted out, trying to no avail to get back up onto her feet.

"And that's the end of the Shining Stars' show…" Clown proclaimed as he clapped his hands, "Now this will open the door for you, Lord Ziggy," he assured, "The door to your greatest desire," he noted on, "Code Three-One-Seven-Three…" he said ominously.

X

"Crimson Red Gauntlet!" Eijiro roared, slamming his hardened and Haki-covered fist against the arm of a Brigandine, sending it sliding back.

"Are we just gonna keep fighting these guys and not go after Uraraka?!" Yuji inquired before kicking away a Killer.

'You'll have to keep them distracted a little while longer, Yuji!' his girlfriend's voice echoed in his head, causing him to blink in surprise.

'Wait, Noel?!' he yelped inwardly, 'How are you…?' he started to ask.

'It's M'gann's telepathy link,' the Piper answered, 'Can everyone else hear us?' she inquired.

'Yep, loud and clear!' Magna assured while launching a fireball from his hand at a Wizard, while Luck blitzed another Killer.

'What's the situation with Ochaco?!' Tsuyu asked, lashing a pair of Clowns away with her tongue before leaping to evade a Wizard's lightning bolt.

'Are we planning to go after the one who took her?' Tanjiro inquired on.

'Just a moment, everyone!' Momo chimed in over the telepathic line, causing everyone to perk up, 'Right now, I'm creating charges for the rest of the team outside to set upon the factory from the outside,' she confirmed, still in the midst of making the bombs as they popped out from her navel, 'We'll signal you all when we're ready to blow!' she added.

'Right!' most of the Omni Force members responded with nods.

'Momo, what about Ochaco?' Tsuyu asked, still sounding concerned.

'It sounded like she had a plan, so I'm going to trust her judgment,' the Creation Quirk user noted in reply, 'For now, let's make sure this factory goes down,' she insisted. The Frog Quirk user let off a grimace, but decided to resign from arguing. She hopped over, wrapping her tongue around a Brigandine's arms before Tenya tackled it into a wall.

Meanwhile, Wizard had flown Ochaco to one of the tallest buildings on the planet, keeping a firm hold on her as they entered the large, imposing metal doors, which promptly closed behind them. The Zero Gravity Quirk user tapped her fingertips together, allowing for the Dark Star to reassume his normal weight as his feet touched the floor. He glanced back at his captive curiously.

"Why?" he asked.

"There really isn't a point when you've already caught me," Ochaco responded, "Besides, I know I'm not strong enough to fight you by myself," she mentioned.

"Hm," Wizard huffed, setting her down onto her feet while transforming back to normal in a flash of light, "Forward," he instructed to her surprise. She adhered to his order though, walking on down the dark corridor as the doors shut behind them. There was a light coming from the end that the Zero Gravity Quirk user noticed. Standing in its glow was none other than Ziggy, whose back was turned.

'He brought me right to Ziggy?' Ochaco inquired inwardly, 'Why?' she questioned on. She came to a stop right behind him with the Dark Star.

"My lord," he began, "I've brought Ochaco Uraraka as you've requested," he confirmed, dropping to his right knee. The Zero Gravity Quirk user tensed up. Just what exactly did the Satan Gravity Ether Gear user want with her?

"You're dismissed, Wizard," he said, not turning to face his cohort, "Go and defend the factory," he advised.

"Understood," the Dark Star responded as he headed off down the corridor. As the doors closed behind him, Ochaco nervously took on a ready stance. Ziggy slowly turned to face her.

"Ochaco Uraraka…" he addressed. Sweat trickled down the Zero Gravity Quirk user's face.

"What do you want with me?" she asked nervously.

"Ochaco…" Ziggy repeated as he stepped forward, making her flinch. And then, she blinked in surprise upon noticing him tremble. "You're… really alive…" he noted through what sounded like a whimper, "Thank goodness… Thank goodness!" he exclaimed, putting his right hand over his skull-like face as he cried.

"Wha…?" the Zero Gravity Quirk user uttered in confusion.

"Oh… that's right…" the Oración Seis Galáctica member realized, calming down, "I need to tell you before I lose control of myself again…" he noted.

"Wait, 'lose control'?" Ochaco repeated as she blinked, "Does that mean Ultron's controlling you right now?" she questioned. Ziggy didn't say a word. Instead, he made his head shine brightly for a moment, with his skull-like face and horns disappearing. Slowly, the Zero Gravity Quirk user widened her eyes as they shook. "What…?" she uttered out of disbelief.

"We don't have much time, Ochaco," the Oración Seis Galáctica member confirmed, "I need to tell you everything before it's too late," he stated.

Ultron and Ironheart have begun their battle. Shirou and Justice are fiercely clashing with their blades and ideals. The Shining Stars are all looking at death's door. And Crow and Acnoella are still rampaging about Lendard.

Much is left unresolved as we've reached this halfway point. But in time, it will be. Until next time, this is Xiaomei, signing off.

END

Phew, that was great! I'm really happy to be working on "Space" again and getting to the halfway mark of the story. The next ten chapters are going to be pretty critical, so I need to make sure I do the best I can on each and every one of them.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I'll see you all later!