*One year ago*
(Dust): You want me to what?
(Hibana): I want you to train me how to fight. Your fighting style is perfect for my electric yo-yos.
(Dust): No.
(Hibana): No? What do you mean no? You’re my caretaker. I’m under your care and you’re training me.
(Dust): Hibana, you get exhausted just walking to the store. Just have your drones do the fighting for you. Besides, what do you think you can offer from a physical standpoint?
(Hibana): I don’t know. Maybe I’ll suck. But I’m giving this a shot. I refuse to be the scared NPC on the side waiting for the hero save her. I’ve got plenty of videos of you fighting that I can study. And if you won’t train me, I’ll find someone else and make you live with the regret that you didn’t train me. Either way, this training arc is happening.
*Dust and Hibana stare each other down*
(Dust): Okay. I’ll train you. But this is going to be the toughest thing you’ve ever done. I’m going to push you to your limits until you collapse. Then I’m going to pick you back up and have you keep pushing until you wish for death, but I won’t let you take the easy way out. Got it?
(Hibana): Fine by me. When do we start?
***
*On the Dawn Nexus yacht Hibana and Crystal were going at it as the rest of Shadow Eye fought the members of Dawn Nexus to secure the yacht. Electricity went flying through the night sky as Crystal used her nunchaku to deflect Hibana’s attacks*
(Crystal): To think all this time Nexus was in front of me and I didn’t notice.
(Hibana): That’s what you get for having your head stuck up your ass.
*Two of Hibana’s drones moved in and fired electric bullets at Crystal who dodged the bullets by ducking behind a bar counter nearby. As the drones closed in on her, Crystal threw her white cap in the air to get their attention. One of the drones fired at the cap as Crystal flung her fur coat at the second drone to cover its vision. While that drone’s vision was obscured, Crystal leaped from behind the counter revealing her white pants and sky blue sweater, and destroyed the other drone with her nunchaku. Crystal then turned around and attacked the other drone to destroy it just as it got done removing the coat. Crystal then sensed another yo-yo attack coming from Hibana and leaped in the air to avoid the attack but she jumped too late and felt a jolt of electricity course through her right. She managed to land on her feet but was wobbly and could barely stand as her right leg was paralyzed from the attack. Hibana ran toward Crystal and delivered a shotgun dropkick which sent Crystal back first on the starboard side of the yacht. Almost falling over. As Hibana fired off her yo-yo for another attack, Crystal quickly rose to her feet gritting her teeth and rolling out of the way. Crystal then tossed her nunchaku at Hibana who easily dodged the attack but couldn’t dodge the second attack as the nunchaku flew back like a boomerang hitting Hibana in the back. Crystal then took out a small silver ball from her pocket and threw it on the deck to create a white fog that covered the area. As the fog was covering the area, Crystal’s nunchaku flew back to her hand and she disappeared into the fog. Hibana fired off a yo-yo attack in Crystal’s direction but hit nothing but air as the yo-yo returned to Hibana’s hand. Hibana began to look around hoping to find Crystal but couldn’t see anything*
(Crystal): What’s the matter, Nexus? Can’t find me?
*Hibana fired off a yo-yo in the direction of the voice but once again hit nothing but air*
(Crystal): Aww~, you almost had me that time.
*The yo-yo returned to Hibana*
(Hibana): Keep talking. I’ll find you. And when I do I’m going to make you pay for stealing my name.
(Crystal): Is that why you went after me? Because I stole your online handle? Get over it.
(Hibana): It wasn’t just an online handle. Nexus was my very identity. You stole it and besmirched it for your own self-gain.
(Crystal): Yeah, and your point?
(Hibana): At least answer me this, why’d you do it? Why go after me?
(Crystal): Why not? You were my idol. You were everything I wanted to be but at the same time everything I despised. You’re the smartest person in the room and yet you do nothing but sit against the wall and observe the room. Come on, people like us should be leading the room, doing whatever we want, and everyone should do what we say when we say it. With our combined talents we could rule this kingdom and everyone in it. Under my rule, the smartest shall lead while the stupid and ignorant shall do our bidding.
(Hibana): Well in that case you’re not fit to be a ruler seeing how stupid you are.
*Hibana runs toward the fog swinging one of her yo-yos around and around to generate electricity and then delivers an electric strike to the unsuspecting Crystal that sends her flying up into the air out of the fog. As Crystal looked up she saw one of Hibana’s drones and put two and two together. Hibana used the drone to find Crystal’s heat signature in the fog. As Crystal was in the air her body soon got wrapped by Hibana’s yo-yo strings*
(Hibana): GET OVER HERE!
*Hibana pulled on the strings and Crystal came crashing down through the bar counter. As Crystal lay there in pain, Hibana walked over to her and crouched down next to her head*
(Hibana): Rule the kingdom? Order people to do whatever I want? Do have any idea how little the concept of a ruler means to me? I would have to give up all my time playing video games and watching my shows just to keep everyone in line. Screw that. I don’t wanna rule, I just want to be free to do what I want whenever I want to do it. While sprinkling a little adventure on the side. Gotta switch up the routine here and there to keep things fresh. There is one thing I will admit you’re right about, we are the smartest people in the room, but that doesn’t mean we’re the best person to lead.
***
*On Jamie’s yacht, Dust was still hanging on for dear life while getting pulled by the ship. They tried to shake Dust off but he continued to hold on refusing to let go. This agitated Jamie who was already upset with how things turned out this evening*
(Jamie): Man, enough of this shit. Grab a gun and smoke this fool before I smoke you guys myself.
*Three of Jamie’s bodyguards went to nearby crates and pulled out some guns. They then went to the back of the yacht to shoot Dust, but before they could fire at him they were taken out by two fireballs and a plasma shot. Dust looked up and saw Ryuuji, Alita, and Constantine flying in the sky. Constantine had red and orange wings that made him look like a phoenix from the legendary stories*
(Dust): About time you showed up.
*Ryuuji flew down and picked up Dust by the armpits. The two then rejoined the others. Once they did, six more of Jamie’s bodyguards appeared. Five of them had guns and began firing at the group while one of them had a rocket launcher. The rocket launcher went off and the group dispersed to dodge the shot and explosion*
(Constantine): We won’t be able to make a safe landing as long as those blokes are firing at us.
(Dust): Get me in close and I’ll take care of them.
(Ryuuji): Roger. Alita, cover us.
(Alita): Understood.
*Alita flies toward the boat followed by Ryuuji and Dust. Holding out her hands, Alita created a shield of light to protect herself from the gunfire. The bodyguard with the rocket launcher fired at Alita. The rocket made contact with the shield and exploded enveloping Alita, Ryuuji, and Dust. The bodyguards let out a cheer believing they took them out not noticing that two wires were latched onto the deck. All of a sudden Dust came flying out of the explosion toward the yacht. He delivered a dropkick to one of the guards to send them flying down some stairs. While still in the air Dust fired off another wire from his wrist toward another guard and flew toward him to deliver another dropkick to that guard. Dust proceeded to do this to three more guards who fell to the ground barely conscious from the dropkicks. When Dust reached the guard holding the rocket launcher he latched his wires onto the guard’s chest to pull the guard toward him. Dust then delivered a left hook to the guard to daze him before landing on the deck of the yacht. Dust could see the four remaining guards recovering from the kicks and slowly getting back up. Dust acted quickly and threw the guard at one of the other guards before flinging him around with his wires knocking out the other guards in the process. Dust then flings the guard out into the ocean past Constantine. The guard was screaming in terror throughout the whole experience. Seeing the deck clear, Constantine flew in and landed on the deck just as Jamie came walking out*
(Constantine): Give it up Jamie, it’s over. We got the evidence we need to lock you up and there’s a bunch of knights waiting for you at the harbor. There’s no escape.
(Jamie): True. But if I’m going down, I’m taking your detective snooping ass with me.
*Jamie fires his heat beam eyes at Constantine who holds out his right to create a small green magic circle of fire that shields him from Jamie’s attack. Dust gets ready to attack*
(Constantine): No! This is my fight!
*Dust stands down and steps back to let Constantine and Jamie fight. Jamie’s blast dies down and Constantine lowers his shield to shoot a green fireball at Jamie who dodges the attack and fires off short shots at Constantine who continues to throw fireballs at Jamie*
(Jamie): I’ve been waiting eight years to do this to you.
*Jamie fires off another short blast while dodging a fireball and taking cover behind a wall*
(Constantine): Yeah? Well, I’ve been waiting ten. Do you have any idea how many people have died because of your guns?
(Jamie): You have any idea how much money I’ve lost because of your meddling? I had to downgrade the rims on a car because of you.
*Jamie shoots off another heat blast and ducks behind the wall where he takes out a bottle of eyedrops and applies them to his eyes. As he applies them, Constantine flew toward the wall Jamie was behind and crashed through it to tackle him. Jamie dropped the eyedrops in the process and Constantine began raining down punches on Jamie*
(Constantine): I’ve been watching you for years. You don’t think I know your secret? Using that heat vision of years makes your eyes go dry and when they’re dry you can’t use them.
*As Constantine goes to deliver another punch Jamie blocks it and delivers a punch to Constantine and pushes him away. Despite bleeding from the nose and lip and one of his eyes swelling up, Jamie was fueled by rage to end the man who had thwarted his schemes in the past. Jamie grabbed a wooden chair and hit Constantine across the back with it. Constantine screamed out in the pain. The chair broke across Constantine’s back and Jamie grabbed one of the sharp edges of the legs to use as a stake and stab Constantine’s neck. Constantine stopped the attack with his hands as Jamie tried to use strength to push through but couldn’t and soon he felt a burning sensation in his hands as Constantine used his magic to burn them. Jamie screamed out in pain from the burning sensation he felt in his hands. Seeing his opportunity, Constantine reached into his coat pocket and pulled out some black brass knuckles. Constantine delivered a devastating green flame right hook to Jamie’s cheek which sent him flying back out onto the deck. Jamie was still conscious and spat out some blood as Constantine came walking out of the room. Now at the end of his rope, Jamie reached into his back pocket and pulled out a syringe containing purple liquid*
(Dust and Constantine): Smile!?
(Jamie): Was saving it for a special occasion.
*Jamie injects himself with Smile and rises to his feet smiling menacingly with his eyes glowing purple*
(Constantine): Oh wankers.
*Jamie fires his heat beam eyes at Constantine which pushes him back into the room they were previously in*
(Jamie): Ha! Die cat!
*Jamie began to gloat feeling proud of himself but much to his shock Constantine came walking out of the room holding hands out behind each other with a green fire shield protecting him. Jamie focused and increased the intensity of his blast while Constantine reinforced his shield. As Constantine begin slowly walking forward, Jamie was getting pushed back near the edge of the yacht with nowhere to go. Jamie’s blast became weaker as his eyes were drying up. Constantine was finally a few feet away from Jamie and shot Jamie’s blast back at him. An explosion occurred which sent Jamie falling backward unconscious with the front half of his shirt burnt off and burnt marks appearing all over his face, chest, and stomach*
(Constantine): That, was for all the people who died by your hands.
***
*About a few minutes later both yachts arrived at the harbor with White Knights standing by ready to apprehend everyone onboard. When Constantine came off the ship with Jamie in handcuffs followed by Crystal in handcuffs as well the knights let out a cheer*
(Constantine): We got him, lads! We got him!
*As the knights moved in to make a proper arrest of Jamie, Crystal, and anyone else, the members of Shadow Eye moved off to the side to let them through*
(Jin): And with this, Jamie is finally behind bars.
(Hibana): And I close the book on Dawn Nexus. Dust, I hunger! Take me out to eat!
(Dust): Alright. You earned it.
(Raika): So seeing as how everything is wrapping up here can I-
(Amarti): Yes, you can go Raika. Thank you for your services.
(Raika): Yes! Thank you!
*Raika quickly ran off*
***
*Sometime later at an apartment complex, Raika stopped at a door with a bottle of wine in her hand, took out a keychain and opened the door with the right key. Raika entered the apartment which had wooden flooring and walls that were painted yellow. Raika could smell chicken cooking from the kitchen as she began removing her shoes near the door*
(Raika): Babe, I’m home! And I brought our favorite wine!
*Out of the kitchen came a woman with long pink hair and blue eyes. She had a green top with beige pants on. As soon as she saw Raika, she ran up to the door and hugged her before kissing her on the lips. They held the kiss for a few seconds before parting*
(???): Oh sweetie, I’m so glad to see you! I missed you so much!
*The woman kissed Raika on the cheek*
(Raika): I missed you too, Micah. Again, I am so sorry for these long work hours.
(Micah): It’s okay. I know how important your job is and they’re already talking about it on the news.
(Raika): Babe, let’s talk about it later. Right now, all I want to do is focus on us and make up for lost time.
(Micah): *Giggles* Okay. You sweet talker.
*Raika could feel something clawing on her pants leg and looked down to see a shih-tzu whose fur was a mix of black, brown, and white and he was wagging his tail excitedly*
(Raika): Xavier! Hey, puppyface!
*Raika picks up the dog*
(Raika): Give mommy a kiss!
*The dog happily licks Raika’s cheek*
(Micah): *Giggles* Looks like I wasn’t the only one who missed you.
*Micah happily skips back into the kitchen to finish cooking. After getting her licks. Raika sits Xavier back on the ground and goes to the restroom to wash up for dinner. She had a smile on her face, happy to be home surrounded by the love of her life and their dog*
Author’s Note: Hello everyone! Thus concludes the Pac and Crystal fight. This was never meant to be a big arc. Just a small story to start the volume off with a bang. Hibana and Crystal’s fight is definitely a battle of the geniuses having different views. One wants to rule and uses her intelligence to exert control, while the other seeks freedom and uses it to do as she pleases. Just because you’re the smartest person in the room doesn’t make you an automatic leader. Take it from a guy managing 13 managers across an entire state. A leader needs to be smart, patient, honest, reliable, open, fair, a team player and tough. This chapter also introduces us to Raika’s husband/wife, Micah. I’m sure some people will think I made her lesbian just now. That’s not the case. First off, she’s bisexual. Second, I was planning on making her bisexual from the beginning. Third, I never said her sweetheart was a man. You guys just assumed. I don’t think it’s a big deal. She’s bi and has friends, family, and has a significant other who accepts her for who she is. This still doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s a badass gunwoman in my opinion who can kick anyone’s ass. As for Micah, when I created her, I used Fluttershy as the basis for her character. I wanted to give Raika someone who is gentle, soft, and sweet. Someone who could offset the fighter in Raika and give her a chance to show a more wholesome side. Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.