Disclaimer: Orion's one step closer to appreciating life for what it is! Obviously he'll have a while before he can fully balance out training with other things, but this start is a good one I'd say. Now let's see what happens in Hanajiro's new goal for the Puppy Army!

Also, I don't own any Ginga characters, aside from any OCs I may add in.

The Ginga Legend: Orion's Story

Puppy Army arc Episode seven: Hanajiro's Mission: Recruiting Orion

Orion and Andy were in the middle of training outside of Shepherd Prefecture. This session was dedicated to improving Andy's ability to perform quick strikes in succession. This was a combination of both Combat training, and Speed training. Andy was doing relatively well, performing several quick, consecutive blows on Orion. Orion was able to block them all with his palms of course, but he was still proud of what he was seeing in Andy. As the punches continued, Andy saw a brief opening on Orion, aiming a spinning back-paw punch to his right.

Orion blocked the punch just in time before landing a swift punch on Andy, one with enough force to send him back. Andy took a moment to catch his breath before dashing at Orion, who blocked several more punches with Andy going as fast as he could. Andy wasn't holding back on his training. Just like how Orion wasn't holding back on training him. Andy started to go a little faster, prompting Orion to do so as well. Andy then attempted a psych out punch and aimed for Orion's face.

Orion was forced to dodge this strike, and then he counterattacked, hitting Andy with the exact same style of punch. This one had enough force to send Andy back, this time causing him to float for a bit. He backflipped before landing on the ground, having noticed the slight improvement in his punching speed while catching his breath again. "That... was great." After having caught his breath, he complimented his performance. "My speed went up by just a bit!"

"Damn straight. But don't forget that the test is to land a punch on me." Orion told Andy, walking up to him with some encouragement towards his growth. "You remember what I always tell you during training, right?"

Andy confirmed this while smiling, showing that he always took Orion's words to heart. "Keep pushing yourself to excel. The only limits are where you stop at." Orion gave a thumbs up, just as Sirius descended behind Orion, prompting Sirius to greet him. "Oh; hey there Sirius."

"Andy." Sirius responded with a wave, and as Orion turned around, Sirius reminded him of what today was about. "Sorry to interrupt your guys' training, Orion, but it's time for our weekly sparring match."

Orion instantly got his Spirit energy up to an appropriate level. Andy knew to get out of the way, and Orion stared Sirius down while declaring how this battle would go down. "This time, it's gonna be you getting knocked on your ass!"

"I'd prefer sitting down on my own, thanks." Sirius joked, charging up his Spirit energy as well with Hanajiro revealed to be spying on them from afar. Thanks to his Conjuring Spirit, he was able to make a device that kept his Spirit from being detectable when he held onto it. It'd deplete when he revealed himself of course. He wanted it to last long enough to observe Orion closely, and see if he could convince him to come with him to the Puppy Army Village.

Meanwhile, Izou was enjoying an afternoon stroll around Shepherd Prefecture, catching up on the book he was reading about a group of adventurers. One of them seemed to be in a funny scenario, causing him to snicker as he commented on it. "That is not how you make chicken cutlets." Izou then sensed Orion and Sirius powering up near the village, and he knew exactly what it was. Having heard of their weekly sparring sessions, Izou smiled in regards to the one way Orion and Sirius were bonding nowadays. "Guess it's that time of the week again."

Izou got back to his book as he started thinking of a way to help Orion. 'I'm glad the kid is starting to come around. But we should still encourage him to follow his dreams.' Izou stopped at a window when he spotted something from the corner of his eye. This was something he felt would suit Orion perfectly. He looked into the window to make sure he was looking at it correctly. And surely enough, he was. He smiled as he realized a way he could help Orion. 'Maybe a gift like this would help.'

Andy was watching as Orion and Sirius sparred in the air, colliding several punches and kicks before dashing back. Orion launched a Spirit blast at Sirius, who deflected it before Orion dashed at him and latched his Spirit web onto him. He then started spinning Sirius round, only for Sirius to activate his own version of the Zetsu Tenrou Battouga. This had him form the ball mid-air, and Orion immediately let go of the web when he noticed. However, as Sirius charged and Orion let go, it was revealed that Sirius had already locked on, and dashed at Orion.

Orion grabbed Sirius' technique, which was named the Homing Battouga by Sirius, and attempted to punch him to the ground after catching him. However, Sirius vanished just in time and appeared behind Orion, who attempted to spin kick him before Sirius blocked and ground pounded him. Orion regained his balance and jumped back as soon as Sirius dove down and attempted to punch him. Orion started charging up his Ground Battouga, dashing at Sirius with it almost instantly after he started.

Sirius jumped over the Battouga before using some of his own Conjuring Spirit. As soon as Orion turned back around, Sirius spawned some kind of armor around his chest and belly area, causing Orion to bounce off of him once he let it hit him. Orion did a solid job at stopping himself from bouncing off, but after ten seconds of struggle, Sirius managed to send him to the ground. Orion stumbled for a bit before landing on his back, and Sirius dove down and put his paw up to his neck just before he could get up. That gave him the win. "That's the game, Orion."

Orion was still pissed about losing to Sirius, but he seemed a little calmer than he usually was. Even though it was small, Sirius could still notice as Orion got back up. "Go fuckin' figure. Whatever. The next one will be mind."

Andy went over to Orion and Sirius, hoping Orion wasn't too hurt about his loss. "You'll get him next time, Orion."

"Here's hoping." Orion said, looking right at Sirius with his determination to best him still growing strong. "Just watch, Sirius. When this mission's over, I'll finally prove I'm as capable as you."

After hearing those words from Orion, Sirius attempted to address the reasons for his mood. "Orion, everyone back home-"

"Is probably worried sick about their darling little prodigy." Hanajiro interrupted, alerting Orion, Andy, and Sirius as they all saw him walking over to them. "Don't worry, I'm not here for a fight. Unless you want to start one."

Orion stepped forward, having a strong feeling Hanajiro was there for him. "What do you want, Hanajiro!? You'd better not be trying to hit me with more of your parallel bullshit!"

Andy made sure to start hiding his Spirit energy in case he could escape as Hanajiro denied the accusation. "No, of course not! I just wanted to make you an offer." Orion was confused at first, but Hanajiro made it clear what he wanted quickly. "Come with me." Orion, Andy, and Sirius were caught off guard by that, and Hanajiro turned around as he explained why he made the offer. "I felt your fighting spirit during our battle, Orion." With Hanajiro's back turned, Andy snuck off, keeping his Spirit hidden as he did. "I need that ruthless determination in my army."

Orion clenched his fists, making his refusal to join Hanajiro very clear. "You've gotta be shitting me. What makes you think I'd betray Akita Prefecture to join someone like you!?"

Hanajiro turned to face Orion, digging into his insecurities, as well as the things he loved most. "Because I know you're capable of amazing things." That surprised Orion quite a bit, seeing a villain say that to him. Sirius noticed how Hanajiro was playing into Orion's thought process. That alerted him further as Hanajiro continued speaking about what Orion wanted. "I don't take prodigies into my army. I only take hard working, capable puppies, who are willing to struggle through their own blood, sweat, and tears if it means doing what they've set their mind to."

Orion started to loosen up, seeing that Hanajiro was managing to make him conflicted about this. Hanajiro noticed and kept going with Sirius standing right next to Orion. "You said you want people to expect something from you?" The mention of Orion's greatest desire had the Akita's attention. And the way Hanajiro finished it made Orion even more confused about how he should respond. "Well, I can assure you, that you've already made my expectations of you as high as they can go."

Orion wasn't expecting any of that. He was already struggling with the idea that Hanajiro was right about him taking his life for granted. But now this was coming at him too? Sirius stepped in, not wanting his brother to go down a dark path. However, some of his choice words stunned Orion further. "Orion. Listen to me. I know you hate me. But he's just telling you what you want to hear. Don't listen to him." Did Orion hear Sirius right? Does he really think he... hates him? Orion knew he wasn't nice to Sirius, but he didn't think he was that cruel.

Orion, in a rare instance of remorse, turned to Sirius to explain that he didn't hate him. "I don't hate you; I just-"

Without warning, Hanajiro dashed at Orion and Sirius, dashing at the former and aiming a powerful punch at him. This sent him back while skidding on the ground, and Hanajiro saw how quickly he did it compared to Orion. Before Orion could step in to help, Hanajiro kicked him back. He regained his balance and watched as Sirius dashed at him at full force. Sirius and Hanajiro traded several blows, and while Sirius was doing better than Orion did, Hanajiro still managed to overpower him. This was proven as he kneed him before kicking him to the ground.

Sirius crashed on the ground before getting back up, going into Zokaken mode after pushing himself a bit, which caught Orion off guard. Orion knew that even for prodigies like Weed, Zokaken was a difficult ability to master. It wasn't something that was just given to you. You had to put a lot of time and effort into unlocking it. And here Sirius was, tapping into the Zokaken right before his eyes. Perhaps Sirius DID understand the value of hard work. If he didn't, this form wouldn't be his.

Sirius dashed at Hanajiro and started giving him more of a struggle. Hanajiro was still stronger than Sirius, but he couldn't help but be impressed by his power after colliding a punch with him. It was no wonder Orion was jealous of this kid. He practically towered over him just now! "Well damn! I guess being strong just runs in your family." Hanajiro then started charging his Spirit energy to start going all out himself. "Too bad you're not as... ruthless as your brother." Sirius stared Hanajiro down at that moment, refusing to let him do anything to Orion.

Andy was rushing over to where Izou was, having just bought his present for Orion. When he came out, he saw Andy running to him and noticed his worry. He took the concerns of his allies very seriously, especially the concerns of his team. "Andy, what's wrong!? Is someone in trouble?"

"Yes! Hanajiro's outside the village and he's cornering Orion and Sirius right now!" Andy told Izou, who was horrified at what could happen to Orion and Sirius with Hanajiro nearby. Just then, the powers of both Sirius and Hanajiro started erupting outside the village. Everyone was caught off guard by it, except for Andy and Izou.

Izou knew what had to be done, kneeling down to Andy and giving him advice on what to do. "Thanks for warning me, Andy. Stay in the village, and get whoever you can to safety if Hanajiro attacks again."

"Right!" Andy exclaimed, running around to scout for any possible soldiers invading the area. And with that, Izou made his move, putting his present for Orion away just before he got ready to dash off. After putting it in a Spirit box he conjured up, he dashed off to the action.

During Andy's warning to Izou, Sirius and Hanajiro were trading several blows with Sirius managing to land several on him without much struggle. While he was doing better than Orion did, he still wasn't at the same level as Hanajiro, as shown by how Hanajiro overpowered him. He landed a back-paw punch on the side of his face that was strong enough to stun him. Then, he kneed him in the gut before ground pounding him to the floor. Sirius was starting to get overwhelmed by some surprising thoughts. 'Damn it! I can't lose; I just can't! I have to protect them! What could I be doing wrong!?'

As soon as Hanajiro attempted to dash down, Orion surprised him by grabbing him with his Spirit webs. "What!?"

Orion held Hanajiro back as well as he could, taunting him as he winked at him just to piss him off. And he succeeded. "Good thing those puppies aren't here to see you stupidly miss such a simple attack!"

This left Sirius to snap out of it before charging up his Spirit beam. "Haha; thanks, Orion!" As soon as he did however, Hanajiro broke out of the web and dashed at Sirius, aiming a powerful punch at him as he locked on. This was bad for Sirius, who wasn't done charging his Spirit beam yet. Just before the punch could land, Izou appeared right in front of Sirius, blocking his punch with one palm. This amazed Orion and Sirius, and stunned Hanajiro in an instant.

Izou stared Hanajiro down in anger over how he was attempting to harm his teammate, and his brother. He punched him back with immense force, leading to him regaining his balance with Orion launching a Spirit blast at Hanajiro to stun him as he dashed over to Sirius and Izou. "Izou! Are we glad to see you!"

"Andy warned me just before the Spirit energy got intense." Izou explained, smirking as he took a shot at Orion's intensity. "And here you are not losing your shit." Orion chuckled a bit while scratching the back of his head at that one. Izou then looked back at Sirius, who stood up as Izou asked his question. "Sirius. Can you handle Hanajiro without Zokaken?"

Sirius went out of Zokaken, and Orion noticed that the strain of the technique affected him too. Not as much of course, but he sensed a bit of struggle in him. That definitely threw him for a loop. After scaling his and Hanajiro's power, he confirmed he wasn't able to handle him outside of Zokaken. "No. And even then, he's too far above me at my current level of Zokaken."

"Then leave this to me." Izou advised as he started walking forward, staring down an impatient Hanajiro as he assured Orion and Sirius that he'd handle it. "It's about time I showed what twenty four years of Spirit training can do."

Sirius did as advised with Orion complaining about not being able to partake in the fight. "Damn it. I wanted to help too."

"I know, Orion. But Izou's right. We'd just be getting in the way." Sirius said, knowing Izou was prepared to do this solo.

Orion crossed his arms as he began to watch what would go down. "That's not what he said, but I guess you wouldn't be wrong."

Izou stared Hanajiro down, and he called out what he was doing returning to Shepherd Prefecture. "You're lucky we believe in second chances, Hanajiro! It's just a shame to see you're so keen on wasting yours!"

"As if I'd ever come back here for redemption!" Hanajiro shouted angrily. "And I'm not leaving without recruiting that brat!"

"Then I'll have you buried here so you won't have to." Izou promised with a confident smile, feeling as if he could handle Hanajiro no problem. As Izou stared Hanajiro down, cool and collected, Hanajiro was impatient and irritated.

Izou and Hanjiro then dashed at each other, colliding a powerful punch that showed how close they were in power. Both fighters wasted no time, and collided a powerful kick before Izou kicked Hanajiro back with full force. Hanajiro regained his balance with Izou appearing behind him, only for Hanajiro to dodge his strike and knee him in the gut. He then kicked him towards the ground, where he stumbled before getting back up. Hanajiro then dashed at Izou while spawning a Spirit orb in his paw. After doing so, he snapped his fingers to make another move.

As soon as Izou dashed at Hanajiro, he was held down by some kind of chain that held him back. "What!?" As soon as he looked back at the chain, Hanajiro dashed at him with the Spirit orb. Izou swatted it away, but not before he and Hanajiro grabbed each others paws.

Hanajiro then explained what exactly his chain did. "That's something special I whipped up for foes as strong as you." The chain was shown to be glowing as Hanajiro gave context surrounding it. "It's surrounded with a kind of Spirit energy that prevents anyone from breaking out of it if I have more hits in the fight than them." Izou attempted to rectify this by punching Hanajiro, but he dashed back just in time. Orion and Sirius showed fear as Hanajiro started charging up his Spirit. "It's not exactly unbreakable. But it's held me back flawlessly before."

Hanajiro laughed a bit before Orion, without thinking, dashed at Hanajiro at top speed, kicking him as hard as he could back at Izou. "What the fuck!?"

"Izou! Now!" Orion called, and Izou took advantage of this and punched Hanajiro in the face as soon as he got close. He then grabbed his hind paw and kicked him back with his own free hind paw. This gave him more hits, and as soon as he sent Hanajiro back, the chain wore off. Orion backflipped over to Sirius, boasting about his speed to him as he landed. "Guess we know I'm better at you than quick thinking, AND quick moving."

"Not so much the former. I just knew you'd be quicker than me." Sirius admitted, leaving Orion unsure how to respond while continuing to watch the fight.

Izou then dashed at Hanajiro at max speed, and he did the same, both of them colliding several swift and powerful punches. Both of them were displaying incredible power, and Izou knew this wouldn't end quickly unless he did something fast. So he resorted to dodging, tapping into his Speed Spirit to evade all of Hanajiro's moves. Hanajiro noticed this and sped up, leading to him attempting to grab Izou's arm. This backfired, as Izou used Hanajiro's lunge to dash forward and strike him in the face. After that, he kicked him back and dashed at him.

Izou landed several punches and kicks on Hanajiro before kicking him into a tree. As soon as Hanajiro hit the tree, he dodged Izou's punch, causing him to make a hole in the tree. The fact that Izou didn't break it showed that he was holding back. However, Hanajiro took advantage of this brief moment of holding back to dash at Izou and slam his face into the tree. He then kicked him up, causing his entire body to drag on the tree. Now airborne, Izou regained his balance as Hanajiro dashed at him.

Hanajiro landed two swift punches and a powerful kick on Izou, sending him back with the bark stuck in him from dragging against the tree making him just a bit slower. Hanajiro then launched a Spirit beam at Izou, who dodged it as he started thinking of how to give himself the upper paw again. As he observed the thorns, an idea came to his mind at how to pay Hanajiro back for destroying the tree. Oh yeah. He was pissed about what happened to the tree. And as Hanajiro launched two more Spirit orbs at him, he grabbed two pieces of bark off of him.

Izou pulled the bark out, putting some Spirit energy into them and throwing them at the Spirit orbs to pierce through them. "What!?" Hanajiro was stunned by this, not knowing that Izou was a Nature Specialist. After deducing this, he gave a vicious grin before pointing it out. "Ah, I get it. You're a Nature Specialist! Only way you'd be able to use pieces of bark so effectively!"

"That's right. And it's about time I got to using my Specialty to win this fight." Izou declared, using his Spirit energy to start taking the bark out of him while dodging Izou's Spirit blasts. For every piece of bark he removed, he regained a fragment of his full speed. And he used his same strategy from before to destroy some of the Spirit orbs. Once he took all forty eight pieces of bark out of the tree that were stuck in him, he stared Hanajiro down as he controlled them all. Some were used as a barrier to the Spirit blasts. Others pierced through them.

Hanajiro growled when he noticed this, dashing at Izou with a Spirit blast in his paw. Izou was ready to block, only for Hanajiro to dash in front of him and past the bark barrier. He put the blast up to Izou's gut and blasted him back with it. And after that, he dashed at him again and got ready to strike him more and more. Izou blocked Hanajiro's punch before sending a rogue piece of bark at his paw. The bark was small, but Izou's Spirit energy enhanced its power by a mile.

Orion and Sirius were watching the battle from below, and Sirius started to talk about what Izou was doing. "So THAT'S what he's doing!" Izou and Hanajiro continued trading blows in the air as Sirius continued. "Izou's using the bark from the tree to his advantage with Nature Spirit!" Orion started to get visibly hyped about this strategy as Sirius explained more. "So by using the bark that got stuck to him during the battle-"

"He can hit Hanajiro with offense and defense without even using his paws!" Orion interrupted, and Sirius gave a smiling nod as Orion called up to Izou. "Kick his ass some more, Izou! Knock this dickhole to next year!"

Hanajiro landed a spinning kick on Izou, who launched a Spirit beam at him as soon as it made him spin around one time. Hanajiro blocked the Spirit beam, but it still sent him back. He then conjured up some kind of fire ball machine, calling over to Izou as he started firing. "I hope you like burning trees! Because that bark of yours is gonna get burnt to a crisp!" Izou spread around the bark, knowing it would get instantly burned, and defended himself against the rest of the fire balls. He could only dodge so many however. And one even hit his paw.

After yelping from the fire ball hitting his paw, Izou noticed how much he was struggling to keep the bark from getting burnt. He set his sights on the fire ball machine, knowing he couldn't let it stay in the battle for much longer. So he dashed at Hanajiro and started charging his Spirit energy. He acted as if he was about to punch Hanajiro in the face, which he was more than prepared to dodge. However, Izou surprised him by revealing that he was actually charging a Spirit orb.

Hanajiro tried to grab Izou's paw, but he was just a split second too late, and Izou launched his Spirit orb at the fire ball machine. He managed to hit it with enough force to where it started to short circuit, which Izou then followed up with Izou hitting the side of Hanajiro's head. After ground pounding him downward, Izou noticed a hinge of fire on the tree. When he looked around, he was horrified. The fire balls from Hanajiro's attack were causing damage to the trees in the area. Izou could barely avoid getting sick at the sight of such flaming destruction.

To Izou's relief, Orion, Sirius, Andy, Martha, and some of the Shepherd Prefecture soldiers had already heard the call with Zeke giving his orders to his men. "Put out as much of the fire as you can! If you spot a burning tree that's currently unattended, run to it and tend to it as fast as you can!" Izou clenched his fists, and as Hanajiro rose back up to continue the fight, he caught his fist without looking at him. He then punched Hanajiro back with full force, stunning Hanajiro for a few seconds.

Once Hanajiro regained his balance, he heard Izou become enraged as he started bringing the pieces of bark back over to him. "Ya know, Hanajiro, it's pretty common to believe that trees have feelings." Orion and the others were surprised to see some of the unburned pieces of bark from the burning trees going over to him as well. "I believe it myself. Because I can feel their pain." Hanajiro questioned what Izou was doing as he started showing how pissed he was getting more visibly. "And I hope you're ready to pay the price for hurting the feelings of these trees."

Izou then glared at Hanajiro, shouting at the top of his lungs as he unleashed his rage into his next attack. "BECAUSE THE UNSCATHED ONES ARE PRETTY FUCKING PISSED ABOUT YOU MISTREATING THEIR COMRADES!"

Izou then sent several of the pieces of bark after Hanajiro, who managed to destroy them with two Spirit blasts; one to his left, and one to his right. As soon as he took the bark pieces out, Izou dashed at Hanajiro and aimed a spin kick at him. This led to Hanajiro vanishing before appearing right behind Izou. Izou planned for this, and had already sent the bark towards Hanajiro. When Hanajiro noticed this, Izou kneed him in the gut to prevent him from moving. He then got hit with the Spirit powered bark, making him unable to move as it halted his spine.

When Hanajiro realized he was unable to move, Izou took the chance to ground pound him towards the ground, causing him to stumble on the ground once he landed. Izou dashed down at him and landed beside him, charging up one particular attack as he looked at Hanajiro. Hanajiro was unsure of what to do, but then he remembered that Spirit energy didn't require you to move to use it. He charged up his Spirit energy and put enough energy on his back to push out the bark.

As soon as Hanajiro got the bark out, he jumped back up and charged at Izou instantly. Izou continued to charge his Spirit energy as he blocked Hanajiro's knee and got onto his back, kicking Hanajiro into the air as soon as he did. He then rolled backward, landing on his hind paws before dashing up at Hanajiro again. When Hanajiro regained his balance, he and Izou collided several strikes with Izou continuing to power up. Hanajiro saw this and could only wonder what this attack was going to be. He knew for sure he didn't want to risk getting hit by it.

Izou blocked Hanajiro's punch and landed a counter punch right on his face before attempting to punch him in the gut. Hanajiro grabbed this strike and kicked Izou in the face, only for Izou to grab his paw and start spinning him around. This began to make Hanajiro dizzy, and Izou continued spinning him around until he got ready to fling him. Hanajiro tried to hit him with Spirit blasts, but Hanajiro used the remaining bark to block the ones he launched at him.

Izou threw Hanajiro with all of his might, sending him towards the ground, where he dragged before Izou landed. Hanajiro got back up, attempting to charge his own Spirit energy as well to stop Izou from using his attack. "You're pretty good. But I'm not done yet!"

"Then prepare yourself for this next attack." Izou advised, putting his paws up and holding them on opposite ends while controlling the remaining fire and bark around the tree Hanajiro burnt. This led to him controlling the fire and bark, combining it into one singular piece of nature that managed to combine peacefully. It was a reddish brown color, and it contained the power of fire, with the peace of the bark on a tree. Hanajiro saw what Izou was doing and launched a Spirit beam at him, only for Izou to vanish a few feet behind him. "Not quite."

Hanajiro looked back with Izou putting his paws together before prioritizing his right one. "Nature's Protection!" And as he aimed the ball at Hanajiro, he called out the version of this technique he was using. "Burning Bark!" Hanajiro has little time to react with how fast the ball moved. He attempted to fly away, but Izou then controlled the ball to move upward with the power of his Spirit energy. This caused the ball to fly up at Hanajiro, who made an attempt to dodge it again.

His second attempt failed however, and it caused Hanajiro to cry out in pain as the ball of flame and bark singed him, while still holding back thanks to the power of the bark. The ball exploded, and Izou watched as Hanajiro was engulfed in the flame. Orion and the others saw what happened when they got back, leaving Orion hyped to know what the attack was about. Sirius started taking notes in his mind when he saw it was a combination of fire and tree bark. Izou watched as Hanajiro fell to the ground and rolled in his direction him due to exhaustion.

Izou walked over to Hanajiro, being quick to comment on how the fire and bark worked together to send him to the ground. "Trees may hate fire. But they hate the ones who make fire more."

Izou arrived right to where Hanajiro was as Orion and the others joined him. Orion was ready to see him take Hanajiro out once and for all. "Finish him off, Izou! Kill his ass and take the Puppy Army out of business!"

Izou looked down at Hanajiro, who was struggling to get up due to how much damage he'd taken. He'd used up a lot of his Spirit powers to fight past the damage too. While the battle didn't get as intense as the one he had with Orion, the Spirit power used to take the bark out of his back alone did a lot to him. Izou was still pissed off about Hanajiro damaging the forest. But he knew they needed him to give them the location of the Puppy Army village. "No."

This caught Orion off guard at first, and Andy reminded him of why he said no. "We need him to tell us where the Puppy Army is, remember?"

"Oh, right." Orion replied, admitting to why he forgot that bit as he looked right at Hanajiro. "I forgot that bit because I was so excited to see this asshole kick the bucket."

"Trust me, Orion. That time will come if he continues leading up to it." Izou assured Orion, and then he looked down at Hanajiro allowing him to stand while demanding what he wanted out of him. "You heard my friend. We need you to give us the location of your village." Hanajiro couldn't believe Izou was just asking him outright. After that beatdown too. "And don't think of giving us a false location. It'll just put us back on the task of finding out where you are."

Hanajiro snorted before he started laughing, getting into Izou's face when he was done to refuse his request. "You really thought I was gonna do it just because you ASKED me!?" Hanajiro looked at Orion, who kept his guard up as the Shikoku brought his offer back up for him. "My offer still stands, kid. Come with me, and you'll get all the things you want in exchange for helping my army." Orion tried to resist the temptations as Hanajiro gave them to him. "Expectations, strong opponents, a top spot in the army, it's all yours, if you join my crew."

As the others saw Orion struggling with this, Andy took his paw, catching his attention as he gently reminded him of who Hanajiro was. "Remember who we're up against, Orion. Hanajiro has shown us that he isn't an honest Canine. Sure, even the most dishonest snake can tell the truth once in a while, but that's such a rare event that it's not worth risking unless they can show you directly." Orion came to his senses right before Andy said what he did next. "And even then... the proof he could give you might be false too."

Orion nodded with a determined expression before facing Hanajiro and turning down his offer. "You're right, Andy! I'm not betraying my home just to get phony praise from this sicko!" Orion took another jab at Hanajiro to enhance the fact that he wasn't joining him. "Whether or not he's got something to say about me, I don't get my sick kicks out of helping bad people do bad things! That includes helping someone like him force puppies into an army!"

Hanajiro knew it was pointless to go for Orion directly after that. Instead, he gave a smile, making it seem as if he was respecting his decision. "No surprise it was the German Shepherd who helped you see reason." Orion glared at Hanajiro with the others standing beside him, leaving Hanajiro to talk about his plans some more. "It's such a shame. You could be a shining example of just how powerful puppies can be. That they're capable of defending themselves." Just then, Hanajiro then started using some of the last of his Spirit energy. "You still can be."

Hanajiro vanished right in front of Orion and placed his paw on his head, filling Orion with the very knowledge Izou demanded from him. Izou knocked Hanajiro back as soon as he was done, and Hanajiro skidded before calling back over to Orion. What he said next caught the others off guard. "Think about it, Orion! You know where to find me!"

Hanajiro dashed off after that, having just enough Spirit energy to get home. What he said drew attention to everyone except for Orion, who knew what Hanajiro meant. Martha was the first to question what Hanajiro meant by that. "I think he hit his head or something. He knows we haven't found the Puppy Army Village yet."

"I don't think that's what he meant, Martha." Sirius chimed in, putting his paw on Orion's shoulder while making sure he understood correctly. "Orion. Did Hanajiro give you his location with that last touch?"

"Yeah, he did!" Orion exclaimed instantly, proving that now, despite Hanajiro's temptations, he was on the side of the Ohu army, no matter what. "He obviously did that in case I changed my mind. But if we use it against him, he might turn our plan against us."

"That's right, Orion. It's also why we should rest up." Izou suggested, knowing fully well that even though he did most of the fighting, it was still a bad idea to think heavily right after a big battle like that. "We'll figure out what to do after we all have clear heads." Orion and the others agreed to that, and Orion especially needed it. He was glad Andy snapped him out of that thought process. But the fact that he considered it made his stomach turn to even think about. Was he actually capable of betraying others like that? Was he capable of being that... cruel?"

Orion and his team were back home with Orion praising how well Izou was able to overpower Hanajiro like that. "You seriously kicked ass today, Izou! I'm totally gonna power up MY Nature Spirit someday so I can pull off attacks as powerful as yours!"

"Glad to see being a Speed Specialist won't stop you there." Izou replied, leaving Orion to give a peace sign in regards to how hard he'd work to perfect his Nature Spirit. Izou looked off into the distance, right in the direction Hanajiro left in. That could be the direction of the Puppy Army Village. But he could've also been flying that direction to throw them off. Either way, they had the exact location now, thanks to what him giving it to Orion. "To think he just gave us the location."

Orion started to look remorseful, which Andy quickly picked up on and showed concerned for. "Is everything okay, Orion?"

Orion flinched and looked at Andy, trying to hide the fact that he was concerned at all. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just surprised about what happened, like Izou."

Andy wasn't buying it, seeing that Orion was clenching one of his fists once he looked at it. He knew that meant Orion's negative emotions were getting more intense. He didn't need to think that long about what was bothering him. "It's about what Hanajiro said. Isn't it."

Orion sighed, knowing that Andy was on point with that one. No use in lying when that was the case. "I just can't believe I almost went with him." Martha and Izou may have been there when Andy brought Orion back to reality. But it still stunned them to know he thought about going with Hanajiro. Orion expressed remorse as he spoke up about how it made him feel. "It's like, I know he's a piece of shit. And I wanna kill him, because he's a piece of shit. But when he started trying to persuade me into going with him, a part of me wanted to... go with him."

Martha stepped over to Orion and took one of his paws, causing to look at her as she assured him that didn't make him a bad Canine. "But you didn't. That's the important part."

"I guess, but I shouldn't be thinking about that stuff at all." Orion said, showing that he was now capable of talking to Martha about his deep thoughts. Andy was glad to see this, but he still showed concern for Orion, as he knew this was a big deal to him. "I'm supposed to be a member of the Ohu army. I'm working my ass off to become the army's leader one day." Orion then started to show just a hint of fear; both because of what happened, and because he started to realize what was preventing him from being capable of becoming a Super Canine.

Orion shook his head before expressing his disgust for the thought of going with Hanajiro even crossing his mind. "I know I'm not the first soldier, or soldier trainee, to have dark thoughts before, but I doubt anyone who's still in the army ever considered switching to the enemy's side like I did." Andy, Martha, and Izou saw just how bad Orion felt about this. He didn't want to become a villain, or help evil beings. "I'm supposed to be a soldier. Not a fucking traitor."

Izou placed a paw on Orion's shoulder when giving him comforting words. "You're not a traitor, Orion." Orion looked at Izou, who gave him some words to remember. "It's as you said. We all have dark thoughts sometimes. But the actions we take speak much louder than the thoughts we have." Orion thought over Izou's words as he finished them up. "I think your refusal of Hanajiro's offer says much more about you."

Orion appreciated that, and it led to him thinking about Izou's words more. He also started considering what Sirius said about thinking he 'hated' him. There had to be others back home who thought that too. And he wanted to correct it. "Then let's have this say more about me too." Orion looked right at Izou, who was slightly surprised by his request. "I want to head back home tomorrow to see my family." Andy and Martha didn't expect this either. Andy was the first to smile. He quickly realized that Orion was starting to truly cherish his life.

To be continued

Rock music played as Orion talked about what was going to happen in the next part as moments from the next episode were shown. "It's great to see you all again! And yes, I'm being serious about that; don't piss your pants over it. Okay, first step is done. Now hopefully I can talk to Sirius about what he said the other day. And also talk to dad about how I've felt these past few years. And also show Akita Prefecture that I'll always be on there side. Or at least I'll try to be.

The words of the next chapter were shown with Orion on the right charging up his Spirit energy, and Andy trying to get his act together in an intense situation. "Next time, A Good Start!" Orion and Sirius were leaning by the wall in the Ohu Army base's living room while talking about what needed discussing. "I at least want to start showing I care before we infiltrate the Puppy Army village!"