September 23rd, 2030

(POV: First)

Relaying the information to Tenbu was not pleasant, especially when most of the cavalry members were defeated by Sinblade Dragon. The only silver lining to any of this was that it inspired him to contact someone he knew so that he could receive the members of the Fifth Omni Armordragons. It was growing more necessary to give this Omni Lord more protection than ever, especially when such an event took place so close-by Even though this incident occurred, Tenbu wished to proceed with his original plan of having the Cavalry Dragons work on Earth.

Some wished to stay with him for the time being until the final day, so Arkaid and I returned to my apartment with Melanie, Rikka, Doble, Mizaru, and Meglax in tow. Because this situation appeared to correlate with what was going on in Tokyo, especially since this Sinblade Dragon appeared to grow stronger from the Disaster Force, we needed to talk to my coworkers and boss. Unfortunately, Alvis and Ms. Fridrik were unable to make it, so I had to explain everyone else the general summary of what happened. After that, we decided that the people that could show up would be the ones to help plan out this entire movement against The Will of Kyoya.

However, when I told Ms. Fridrik the news, she informed me that she was going to get another one of the Omni Lords, Count Dawn, involved in all of this. I remembered seeing him at the tournament a few weeks ago with him on a team with the Fujimiya family. Hard to believe that he was an Omni Lord, mostly due to his small stature in comparison to someone like Lord Tenbu, but I was happy to get any amount of support I could. During that same call, I asked if she's heard from Alvis, but she told me that the last time she heard from him was when he last left work. I already told him about what happened to me, and I recall hearing him become distressed upon knowing I almost died. I hoped that he would be alright but, after sending him a lot of messages with no responses, there was nothing else for me to do.

Having Rikka and Melanie in my apartment was a little weird, especially due to how each one acted. Rikka and Doble dominated the couch while Meglax stayed on the floor due to his courteous nature. Rikka had her legs outstretched on the table as she leaned back on the couch cushion. When Arkaid grumbled at the sight, she began to wonder where she got such a behavior from. It was then that she looked over to the right, soon noticing that Doble was doing the exact same thing his buddy was. However, he was in SD form, making it less crazy. This was needed, especially since I didn't want anyone accidentally breaking my furniture.

I was being rather reserved about the issue, but Arkaid glared at the red dragon. "You're in our residence, so I'd expect that you would mind your manners."

Doble groaned a little bit before reluctantly obliging. "Eh?" He dragged the statement on, showing disgust. "Come on, Arkaid. Mind the injured."

"You're fine now. I made sure of that," Arkaid lowly replied. It did take a lot of effort to heal the remaining wounds. When it came to everyone else, the wounds were so severe that Arkaid, after healing them all, nearly went unconscious. I guess the brotherly aspect of their relationship made Doble believe that it was okay to speak in such a manner. However, Rikka soon listened to Arkaid's demands, being more thankful. Arkaid turned to Meglax. "Would you like some tea? I have a plentiful amount since CJ never touches it."

I merely rolled my eyes at the comment. Meglax nodded gratefully. "If it is not too much trouble."

Even though Rikka obliged, she was still resentful about the waiting time. She felt that Doble's little act of rebellion was justified; my coworkers were supposed to arrive about thirty minutes ago, and everyone else was waiting since we got back from the horrid mission. "Chase, where the heck are they? I'm not staying here to marvel at the books." Doble snickered at the remark.

Mizaru was sitting on a nearby chair. Unlike the other Cavalry Dragons and Arkaid, he remained in his normal form as Melanie sat in his lap. Understandably, he was feeling incredibly protective. He wasn't willing to let strangers into the same room with Melanie after what happened with Sinblade. The last thing he wanted for some surprise guest to show up and wreak havoc. He looked down at Melanie as she dully looked at the book in her hands. She was reading a novel that, according to Arkaid, was a classic in Magic World. She slowly muttered the words to herself as Mizaru smiled softly at the display of such childhood innocence.

Finally, knocks were heard from the door. Rikka cried out. "Fucking Finally!" She rushed to the door, only to be greeted by Liam with Demios "SD" hanging on his shoulder. Before the guests could say anything, Rikka rushed past him and looked down the hallway. She was about to groan when she noticed Abigail and Tasuku walking over with their buddies. Unfortunately, as expected, Alvis and Sitri weren't there. Rikka didn't care. "Thank GOD!"

Tasuku and Jack were startled by the sudden appearance. This completely new face, all of a sudden, just showed up from CJ's apartment. Irrelevant thoughts went through Abigail's mind as Bozo yelped eagerly at the pink-haired girl. Tasuku took some time to regain his composure before responding. "You must be Rikka Saki, right?"

"Yep, so let's get this over with." She led the new guys into the room.

Liam was squinting, immediately finding the girl to be repulsive by the fact that she just walked right by him without saying a thing. Demios, noticing his buddy's anger, urged him to reserve it when necessary. Upon entering the room, he didn't exactly feel welcomed by the other Cavalry Dragons. Doble ceased his barbaric behavior upon noticing Demios from the corner of his view. Meglax stopped right in the middle of sipping his tear when his eyes caught sight of the leader of the Purgatory Knights. This wasn't bad by itself, but then Mizaru noticed the leader in his SD form. The black dragon immediately grasped one of his katanas and readied himself. This made everyone tense up, ceasing all movement in the room.

Demios sneered back at the cavalry dragons before shaking his head. "Typical. You lot need to be more like CJ."

Doble snickered. "Heh, good thing he's not one of us." Meglax muttered "yet" under his breath. Doble appeared to ignore the comment going onward. "I don't like you, traitor. You may be keeping it peaceful so far, but I don't trust you."

Arkaid couldn't help but scoff. "Who cares what you think?"

Doble rapidly turned to face me. "You say something?"

"You're in our home. You're our guest. If you don't want to treat Demios like one, then leave." I couldn't help but play the passive role for the time being. I didn't want to cause any trouble, especially considering how little most of the cavalry dragons see me in terms of reputation. Arkaid looked over to Mizaru, urging him to relax. "Because of that, Demios is our responsibility. If he does anything, you can promise CJ and me that we will enforce the rules." Her words reached Mizaru, reducing the tension.

Abigail nervously snuck her way to an open chair, placing Bozo in her lap. She started fiddling with her hair, soon noticing that Alvis wasn't here already. She sighed to herself. "Well… might as well get started, right?"

I nodded as the rest of the guests took seats. "Right, well, let's get the introductions taken care of. Coworkers, meet Rikka Saki and Melanie Bowe. They are, as Doble would imply, actual members of the Fifth Omni Cavalry as opposed to me, according to his incredibly horrible, ill-defined, impossibly high standards." Doble rolled his eyes before muffling a cranky roar. "You already know the Cavalry Dragons here, no need for introductions there. Erm, the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the matter of Sinblade and his correlation with the Disaster Force issues here in Tokyo."

Tasuku nodded. "And that's downplaying it." He turned to face the other people in the room. "More and more people are reporting users of the Disaster Force with each passing day. It's illegal to use unless you've been given specific permission, like Chase here."

Melanie placed her novel on the ground before setting her eyes on Liam. "Is he also allowed?" She asked in a dull, innocent voice."

Liam felt defensive for a moment, but then he realized that the comment wasn't exactly an offensive one. It was an honest question coming from someone who appeared to only be 16. He nodded back, answering for Tasuku. "Y-Yeah. He knows I use it."

Tasuku agreed. "CJ and Liam are a part of an experiment to test for the effects of the Disaster Force. Actually, that is actually what we wanted to talk about." Tasuku turned to Liam. The latter looked to Demios with sullen eyes. The two knew what was going to be discussed. "You two were raiding a base of operations for the Will. Why?"

Liam shrugged his shoulders. "To get more info, like. Nothing more than that."

Demios agreed. "We aren't working in the force with you. It's not illegal for me to do this."

Jack glared back. "Even so, Demios, you allowed your buddy to get himself into a vulnerable situation." Demios snarled back to the green dragon. "What's more, now we have proof that Liam is utilizing more aspects of the Disaster Force that, at first, only the original users could use, that means-"

Abigail interjected. "Portals."

Rikka raised a brow. "Portals? That all? Our buddies can do it too, nothing special."

Melanie interjected. "Rikka, our buddies can only do it every so often. Did you forget?" Rikka was about to throw in some sort of snarky reply before she realized who she was talking to. She stopped herself, allowing Melanie to continue. "I'd like to learn more about these portals. I'd like to be able to use them so that I wouldn't have to rely on Mizaru."

Mizaru looked down to his buddy. "You're not relying on me too much, Melly," Mizaru replied softly. "Trust me, it's fine."

"But you always get so tired after a few of them," Melanie protested. "Maybe Rikka and I should use the Force too?"

Abigail smirked. "Hell, maybe CJ can make it."

I couldn't help but make a smirk. "Oh, sure, totally." I sarcastically replied. "Jack, you've stated that making portals was something that only the original users could make, right?"

The SD form green dragon nodded. "Before I was interrupted, yes."

Abigail lowered her head. "Sorry…."

Just to test it out, I decided to activate the Disaster Force. Arkaid raised her arm towards me in protest, but I gestured that it was alright. "So… if Liam, someone who essentially lives on this stuff," I began to say as I walked over to the other side of the room. "there shouldn't be any reason for me to do-" Without much thought, as soon as I placed my hand out, the dark, wispy energy materialized in front of me. Instinctively, I fell back, and the raw feeling of shock surprised the room. I couldn't tell who was talking, for many voices started crying out at once. Close it! Turn it off! What the hell?! Those were, at best, the only things I could make out. I quickly grasped my Dark Core Deck Case, deactivating the Disaster Force and the Portal in the process. "What the actual fuck?!"

When I turned to face my peers, Arkaid rushed over to me and yanked the Dark Core Deck Case from my hands. She abruptly stormed to the center table before slamming the deck case on the center of it. Her actions were filled with such an adamant sternness in her movement. She glared over at Tasuku, almost on the verge of growling. Seemingly, out of nowhere, her regal, calm demeanor was shattered. "How? How was he able to do that?"

Liam remained quiet; he could tell that Arkaid was on the cusp of erupting, and that didn't sound too good for him. He was the one responsible for giving CJ the disaster force and now, all of a sudden, CJ showed the potential to use the Disaster Force like him and Kyoya. The cavalry members looked at each other, soon noticing Liam's look of guilt. All attention was suddenly put on him, forcing him to answer for Tasuku. "I don't know, okay?" Arkaid immediately turned to him. "Stop looking at me like that. I gave him the Dark Core Deck Case to help fight with all of ye. Quit making it out like I did something wrong, like."

Doble appeared to be the only person in the room who wasn't completely antagonizing Liam. At the corner of my eye, I noticed him muttering to himself. The hell is he thinking now. It was then that he grasped the Dark Core Deck Case and started to observe it.

Finally, Tasuku spoke up. "Liam, you may have done something that put him in danger. Abigail told me about how you're struggling with the Disaster Force."

Arkaid's outburst was almost instantaneous. "Struggles?!" Meglax couldn't help but look at Arkaid with widened eyes. His muscles went completely still as he tried to look away. This must have been the first time in a long while that Arkaid lost her cool like this. I was still recovering from the creation of the portal; I made it like it was no problem at all. "What do you mean?! Struggling?! What did Liam put CJ through?!"

Finally, I was able to come to my senses. I slowly approached Arkaid, watching as she was huffing with such intensity that I have never seen once before. The outraged creature standing before me did not seem like Arkaid anymore; she was completely losing her mind. Tasuku could only say so much before Jackknife got in-between the two. "Listen, Arkaid. You need to calm down. You aren't making things easier for anyone!"

Arkaid gritted her teeth before turning away. It was then we all noticed that Liam was walking towards the door. I had to rush towards him; I needed to know why. "Liam! Why are you leaving?"

Liam stopped in his tracks before morosely looking to me. "I don't want to be here right now." He glanced over to Demios as the two of them nodded to each other. "Don't stop me. I know when I'm not wanted." Before anyone could say another word, he rushed out the door. The last I saw of him was my friend rushing down the hallway and making a turn. After that, I could only hear him going down the stairs, avoiding us all.

Demios gestured everyone's attention to him. "I don't appreciate you all putting him in a situation like that," he began, soon focusing on Arkaid's ice-cold eyes. "You especially. He considers you as an important friend, too. And what do you do? You display such anger, such unforgiving hatred towards the possible person responsible for giving CJ the Disaster Force. Have you forgotten that he only had it for a short while before giving it to him?" Arkaid was left completely flustered. She was able to catch her breath before she lowered her eyes in sorrow. The room fell quiet as the leader of the purgatory knights sighed. "When he first had it, he also knew very little. Like CJ, he wished to use it for good. Now I have to stay here, alone, so that Liam doesn't feel singled out. I'll be sure to inform him the necessities of this meeting."

Doble rolled his eyes. "You're buddies with a cryba-" Before he could finish his sentence, Mizaru extended his katana blade against Doble's neck. The red dragon flinched, catching himself from speaking once again as Mizaru looked to his comrade with intense eyes. "M-Mizaru?" Doble gasped.

"Do you want to start a war?" Mizaru asked bluntly. "If you do, I will not have you start it when Melanie's in the room."

I nodded. "That goes triple for me."

Doble snickered. "I'm not crazy, you know," he cockily mentioned before shaking his head. "Apparently, you two are if you think that it's okay for the leader of the Purgatory Knights to be buddies with someone so fragile." Doble turned to me. "And that goes triple for you, too. You honestly expect me to see you as a member of the Fifth Omni Cavalry? I know why you're here, and you're not here for Lord Tenbu's sake, that's for sure."

"Good, because I don't care," I quickly replied. "Tenbu and Arkaid see me as one of them, and I believe Alliot does too. To be honest, I wouldn't care, even slightly, if you never acknowledged me. I have them."

Meglax leaned forward. "I believe we're getting off track."

Rikka agreed. "Yeah. Doble, keep quiet." Doble groaned back to her, but he didn't show any other signs of visible complaints. "We're trying to get this problem solved and learn about this Force. Go on, Tasuku; tell us what you found."

Tasuku nodded. He looked over to Arkaid, noticing that she walked over to my side. She glanced at me for a moment before finally managing to regain her composure. However, something made me feel like it wasn't going to last long. "By Liam's struggles, we mean that he's having difficulties keeping the Disaster Force in check. Ms. Fridrik also fought a criminal who allowed the Disaster Force to take over (or the person was unable to hold it back, that is still being investigated). When he did so… he lost himself."

Arkaid raised her voice again, breaking her composure. "Lost himself?"

The buddy police officer nodded. "He went insane. Only a few hours after we separated him from the Dark Core Deck Case were we able to get any information out of him. He looked scared… horrified, even."

Demios nodded in agreement. Arkaid was growing tenser by the second. "Liam has been using the Disaster Force way more than CJ. He's been trying to hold it back so that he doesn't allow it to ruin his mind. One slip up, however, and he'll become a rabid animal of his old self."

Meglax raised a hand, hoping to continue the conversation. However, Arkaid walked up to the leader of the purgatory knights. Suddenly, her hands were curled into intense fists, frightening me. I hoped she wasn't about to hit anybody. However, something told me that she was doing it to conceal the amount of rage possibly spiraling within her. I couldn't tell which part was the truth; Arkaid getting this aggravated was a first for me. "Let me get this straight, Demios," Arkaid lowly replied. "You are informing the group that you, as well as Liam, started noticing the struggles of using the disaster force. Not only that, but you actively kept that information to yourself, regardless of whether or not someone would want to know?" Before Demios could answer, Arkaid yelled out. "What I would like to know?! What makes you think that you could leave CJ and me in the dark?!"

I inched forward. "Arkaid, please-"

She completely ignored me. "I can't believe that you would let my partner continue using the Disaster Force when you know what Liam was doing. We deserved to know!"

"Arkaid!"

"WHAT?!" Arkaid spun back to me with her eyes piercing my own. "I told you about the possible risks, but you didn't listen to me at all! We know the Disaster Force came from Azi Dahaka, yet you wanted to test it anyways! Why should I listen to you when I know you're just going to ignore me?! I ONLY WANT TO KEEP YOU SAFE!" That last scream left us all mentally floored. Me most of all; I couldn't say anything back to that. My mouth fumbled for an answer, some kind of comment to tell her that everything was fine, yet nothing came to my mind. The only thing my mind was registering was the raw anger she hoped to stab into me. Before I knew it, my expression went blank. According to a later account by Rikka, it was like I was staring into nowhere. That was when Arkaid's stern, cold face warped back. Realizing what she had done, she held her right hand over her face. "I… I'm sorry, I just…." Her voice was cracking. She turned away, rushing for her room and slamming the door. I couldn't even bring myself to call out to her.

Rikka and Melanie shuffled themselves in their seats. They looked to their buddies, watching as Mizaru's eyes appeared to shake. Doble's mouth was completely agape. "What in the… wow…." Doble looked down for a moment before glancing at me. "You," he uttered, addressing me. It brought me back to my senses while everyone else in the room felt the need to find excuses to keep themselves from talking. "What happened between you two?"

Demios groaned. "Isn't it obvious?" Doble glared at the grand dragon. "Her buddy almost died yesterday. The last thing she wanted to hear was that she could lose him to the Disaster Force." Demios shrugged his shoulders. "CJ, you look fine. You're a warrior. You fought in a battle that any normal human being would've lost. Unfortunately, she appears to see you as an average human buddy, incapable of taking care of themselves."

I didn't want to accept that. I knew Arkaid, she was smarter than that. She must have expected me to get into such situations; I am a member of the Fifth Omni Cavalry now. It just didn't make any sense to me, especially when she herself urged me to join her. Shaking my head at Demios, he could tell that I just couldn't accept his thoughts on this. He nodded in understanding; I guess he was just spit-balling at this point.

Melanie slowly turned to her buddy. "Mizaru?"

Her buddy replied. "Yes, Melly?"

"Has she ever been like that?"

"No… no, Melly. If I'm remembering wrong, even then, she must've done it rarely."

Rikka sighed. "You didn't have a buddy in that time," she admitted. She playfully turned to Doble, watching as the red, blonde-haired dragon took in a nervous gulp. "It was the same when I fought Sinblade. I took the hit meant for him, knowing that he'd have a better chance at taking the bastard out." Doble exhaled and rumbled his mouth. The once cocky dragon looked away with a loud harrumph. "You know what my buddy does? He starts crying."

Doble embarrassingly shook his head. "Now I know you're remembering wrong."

"I clearly recall it," Rikka replied with a smirk. "You swore vengeance on that punk. It was the manliest thing I've seen. You should be proud of yourself."

"W-Well, I simply had no choice but to!" Doble flushed as he turned away. "You're a member of the cavalry, a sister to the cause of protecting Lord Tenbu."

"That's why you see CJ as one too- oh wait," Rikka snickered. Doble's priceless reaction of embarrassment actually managed to get a small chuckle out of me. However, my mind was still stuck on Arkaid. "Face it; we're biased to our buddies. And, in our case, we're eternal partners. In one way or another, we're going to be together forever unless, somehow, we don't."

Melanie mumbled. "I don't want that somehow to happen."

Abigail sighed with sorrow. "I think Arkaid thinks that way too…." Drearily, she turned to me as Bozo whimpered in her lap. "CJ, we know enough now. We know that there's a connection, and the DMW and the Buddy Police HQ will look into it. However…."

"… Yeah?"

"I want you to talk to Arkaid," she stated. "We're not going to take the deck case from you yet, but if something starts happening… we're going to have no choice but to."

"… Fine," I returned slowly. I wanted to say more, but a sudden ring from my pocket caught my attention. After pulling out my phone, I noticed that I got a text message from Liam. "Demios, it's for you. Liam says to pick him up; says you'll know why?"

Demios nodded. "I got it. He's probably stressed out from before, making it hard for him to hold it back." Demios returned. He started for the door before everyone else before turning to me. "CJ, if you do start feeling such pains, don't use it. It's not worth it, and I doubt Arkaid wants to lose you from it."

Everyone had left. After unanimously deciding that the two events had correlation between the two, my coworkers decided that this should be investigated. However, because I'm still on a paid leave, I was to be left out of the investigation. None of that mattered to me at that point, for Arkaid still locked herself in her bedroom. It was extremely nerve-wracking to approach the room and talk to her. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know the right thing to say. The only thing that I felt like saying was the truth, but I feared that it would make things worse.

It was only until ten minutes of silence passed when I heard a muffled voice from across the wooden door. Arkaid's voice was almost silent. "… Are they gone?"

"Yes, they're gone," I sighed back. Fortunately, that was enough to open the door. The wooden slab creaked open as Arkaid slowly inched her way out from the doorway. Her eyes watched the door before they met mine. She quickly looked away, however. I could see some streaks of dried sadness on her cheeks. She must have hated this entire situation. "Arkaid… about what happened before, I think-"

She interrupted me with a slow, guilty tone. "I'm terribly sorry for my outburst," she tried to reply. "It was not like me at all. It must have been awful for you to hear me yell at you in such a manner."

"No no no no, Arkaid, it's fine."

"No, it's not fine," Arkaid solemnly looked at me. "I … I wanted you to work with us, to work hard and earn the respect of the others. But I didn't want that, CJ," Arkaid sighed. "I didn't want you to use that awful power. Almost losing you was horrid enough… and now you act like it's alright to use the Disaster Force."

"Arkaid-"

"-Even after knowing what it can do to you."

"Please, Arkaid," I replied softly. "I wasn't disagreeing with you back there. I was trying to get your attention because… you lost yourself there." Arkaid tensed up before turning away. She shook her head. It was like it was telling me No, Arkaid. He's right. Accept it. "That was the first time I saw you completely lose yourself. Even Doble, Meglax, and Mizaru were startled from that."

"… Yes," Arkaid slowly replied. "I must apologize for my terrible display."

"You don't have to-…, never mind."

"No, don't say that," Arkaid protested. "What do you wish to tell me?"

"… Arkaid, I'm a member of the Fifth Omni Cavalry, regardless of what some of the others think." My buddy, reluctantly, nodded her head. "Facing such dangers head-on… I knew the risks, and this Disaster Force is but another risk I'm facing."

"I need to be honest with you, CJ," Arkaid sighed. "I did not expect for this situation to occur. I thought we had the time to train you, make you into a strong member of our family."

"And then everything went to shit."

"Yes," Arkaid admitted. "And for you to get by the training, you use the Disaster Force. It's not what I planned for you, Chase."

"What did you have planned for me, exactly?"

"Chase, I had everything planned out for you," she began. She wiped away some of the dried tears. Finally, she started smiling. "The first month, this month, was supposed to be your introduction. Just you being you; I wanted to show them the person I chose to be my buddy for eternity. Then, afterwards, I would instruct you in the ways of magic. I know you wouldn't be as robust as someone like myself-" and, before I knew, Arkaid was smiling again. Her eyes were off to the side as she traced her mind for all of the events she planned. She never had a buddy in the hundreds of years she's served with Lord Tenbu. Without a doubt, with each passing day, she must have thought about it. "-but, it wouldn't be long before you would actually start learning it. It can take ages for anyone just to start learning it, but I know you; I believe that we can start there. And then, during that period, we could have someone like Alliot trait you in the ways of physical combat. By your chosen attire and weapon choice, I see you as someone who likes to be the jack of all trades, which is needed in our family; everyone else just seems so focused in a specific role…." Arkaid just continued to speak, and not once did I get bored. In fact, I started to think about the plan myself. Each idea came like a picture in my mind. I could see how each one would play out. Without a doubt, there would be some hardship, but Arkaid would be there. Alliot would help me grow stronger. We would be able to train so that I could be a good member of the Cavalry Dragons just like them. Unfortunately, as Arkaid soon put it, "things are just… going by too fast," Arkaid's shoulders dropped, losing hope. "There's no doubt that members like Doble will want you to use that power, and would it be wrong for someone like me to assume you would use that dreadful power to impress him?"

"It was a possibility, I admit that," I returned.

"Of course," Arkaid hopelessly laughed. "Because you're in a rush now."

"I don't have to be." Arkaid stopped herself. Every ounce of hopelessness that she once felt had evaporated right then and there. I walked over to the Dark Core Deck Case and held it in my hand. "Arkaid… I will only use this if it's absolutely necessary. I can promise you that," I turned back to her. Her eyes seemed more focused than before. "You're going to be training me, right? At least that tells me I won't turn out stupid."

Out of nowhere, a loud laugh burst from Arkaid. The largest smile seemingly popped onto her face as she attempted to reserve herself. It was fruitless in the end. It took several minutes for her to stop herself. I didn't even try. Watching as the solemn, somber buddy returned to the person I looked up to… something within me wanted me to savor it. It's the kind of happiness that she felt in that moment that makes me want to freeze time, hoping that the feeling lasts forever. When she finally calmed down, her smile was more regal, but I could tell that it was very genuine. "Thank you, CJ."

"I should be thanking you," I returned. "If you're training me like you planned, there will be a time where this Dark Core Deck Case becomes useless to me."

"I can only hope," she returned.

"It will be," I stated adamantly. She looked impressed with my resolve. So much so that she refused to stop me as I continued. "I only wanted to use this power because I wanted to fight alongside you. However, you told me that I would've been find fighting Sinblade without that power and, to be honest, I think you're right; the only reason the fight continued was that he sucked away some of my power. If I didn't have it… if I had power and abilities of my own, I doubt there would be any need for me to use this."

Arkaid approached me, embracing my new resolve. Her eyes finally looked determined again, but then she quickly returned to a calm, all-knowing demeanor. I chuckled at her display. She was trying so hard to keep up with the act, but now I can see right through her. "I have everything planned out, for I too had a lot of free time before meeting you. After an expansive amount of thought, I understand that this should be an adequate plan, even if we increase the pace a little bit."

"I don't mind a little challenge."

She nodded with a soft smile. "I hope you're ready for it."

"Of course," I replied. "I have a lot of free time."

"I expect no complaints from you," she cheerfully replied.

"Can't promise that," I returned with a grin. "Ask my brother; I used to whine a lot at the gym."

"How does tomorrow sound?" Arkaid asked.

"That's perfect."