The group was flying over the Lanes Between with the Gummi Ship, having some other problem of space despite the latest internal remodeling. The girls kept a kind of uncomfortable silence at the thought of not knowing where to go now, despite the information they had, until then Eve looked at the data of the next world at the time, and her two robots began to move like crazy.
"But what's wrong, Eve?" Edea asked before one of Eve's little robots hit her by accident.
"This data... it could be?" Eve murmured.
Then the Nasod began to operate the controls, forcing the Gummi Ship to descend to the next world at full speed.
"Hey, Eve, calm down!" Kairi said, holding on to the seat as best he could.
"Can know what's wrong with you now?" Asked Rena.
"You will see now," Eve answered.
After a short but bumpy flight, the Gummi Ship landed in the world, and at the moment Eve left the ship after opening the cabin, although now it was in the middle of a dense fog.
"Hey Eve, what's that all about?" Kairi asked.
"Is it that you've broken down or what?" Edea asked.
The girls left the ship, looking around, despite the thick fog.
"Seriously, Eve, where did you bring us?"
Edea took several steps through the mist, but suddenly stopped stepping on the ground and gave a cry before falling, but fortunately, Kairi grabbed her arm, preventing her to fall more.
"Thank you," Edea said when Kairi pulled her. "What happened?"
Nina, after thinking a moment, began to use her magic to dissipate the fog, letting see first the reason for Edea's stumble. It turned out that they were on the edge of some mountainous formation, although it was finally shown that there was water in the background, a huge ocean beneath them.
"Can you believe it?!" Edea exclaimed, watching more as the fog dispersed. "We are on a floating island!"
"A ... floating island?" Asked Rena, looking around.
When the fog dissipated completely, they could see perfectly that they were on an island that floated in the sky above the ocean, with lots of vegetation, trees, and hills, with a gigantic mountain that seemed to resemble a drill with the tip torn off. They could also see that there were metal objects, similar to ships and machines of different shapes that were lying on the ground.
"Eve, this is..." Rena started and then looked at Eve. "Please, tell me it's not a joke!"
Eve kept looking around. "It's not a joke, Rena."
"Then this ... this is Altera!" Rena exclaimed and looked around. "We are in Elrios! We have returned to Erlios!"
Edea, Nina, and Kairi began to wonder what they were talking about but quickly deduced that they were in their world, explaining Eve's behavior and Rena's sudden joy. The elf then took a deep breath as she raised her arms, closing her eyes, as if she were receiving some kind of invisible force in her body, until she squeezed one of her hands and rested it on her chest, putting her gaze on her fist.
"I never thought that I would long to feel the El in me again."
"And that's not all," Eve said, looking around. "If my data is true, we are at the same point where that 'event' occurred."
"For real?" Asked Rena.
"Event?" Nina asked, approaching the elf and the Nasod next to Edea and Kairi.
"It's true, you do not know," Answered Kairi.
"A kind of black hole swallowed Rena and Eve, ending up where we found them," Edea explained, and looked around. "The truth is that this world imposes."
"And that's just part of Elrios," Rena responded to Edea. "Obviously this place has not changed anything."
"The truth..." Eve interrupted, pointing to what looked like a ship lying on the ground. "My memory data tells me that when we disappeared, that ship was tilted and nailed, not totally on the ground."
"Bah, it sure hasn't been anything!" Edea replied.
"I doubt it," Eve said, and began to observe the area. "From what I detect, there have been some changes in the geology of this area."
"And what if there's been a change since you left?"
"Edea is right, the earth changes, even if it floats," Nina replied.
"The problem is that it takes a year to generate this kind of geological change, at least."
"A year?" The girls asked at once.
Then it began to hear a strange sound as if something was breaking, but the sound seemed distorted.
"That sound... isn't it-"
Rena and Eve turned just in time to see how a portal of a size larger than a person with a vortex of bluish tones was formed in front of them.
"What is that?!" Nina asked, looking at the portal.
"It can't be... Just now?!" Exclaimed Rena.
Suddenly the portal began to suck Eve and Rena, who tried to keep their feet on the ground, but the suction was getting stronger until both began to fly towards the portal, but Kairi and Edea, who for some reason they weren't affected by the portal, grabbed both and tried to hold them to prevent them from entering the vortex, but unfortunately the portal sucked too hard and both Eve and Rena eventually lost the grip of both girls, entering the portal just before that disappeared
Edea and Nina began afterward to ask themselves what had happened, while Kairi fell on her knees, totally unable to speak or express herself before what happened.
Right now, Rena and Eve had disappeared, in front of their eyes.
Hours later, without finding the strength to leave that world yet and trying to find Rena and Eve, although that possibility was negligible, the girls stopped in an underground city inhabited by two-legged moles with a certain knowledge in robotics and mechanics calling themselves Ponggo. The three of them sat near a bar, but they did not ask for anything, they just sat there, looking at each other.
"I cannot believe this happened..." Kairi finally said.
"Right, just when we reach the world of Rena and Eve, they disappear through a portal..." Edea replied.
"And we're not even aware of how that portal works," Nina said.
The three sighed deeply. But soon a little Ponggo approached them.
"What's that face for, pong?" The little Ponggo asked.
"It's nothing, it's that..." Kairi started, sighing again. "Let's say we've lost some friends recently and we've been looking for her without much result."
"Some friends, and what are their names? Maybe I think I know where they are, pong."
"Very nice, what's your name?" Nina asked.
"My name is Aida, and I have the accessory store in town, pong."
"Aida, huh? Nice name," Edea replied. "Do you know anyone who calls herself Rena or Eve?"
"Eve? That name does not sound much to me, but I think I've met a certain Rena, pong," Answered Aida.
"For real?" Kairi asked, with some interest. "And was she an elf the size of an adult with a bow?
"Yes, that's right, she came with a group of warriors who saved our island from the evil Nasod of the island, pong," The Ponggo answered. "Even though I don't know where they can be anymore, it's been five years of all that, pong."
The three of them stared at her in silence for several seconds, a silence that seemed uncomfortable for a moment.
"Repeat that again?!" They asked all three at once Aida, startling her.
"Y-yes, it's been five years after what happened, pong," The Ponggo replied, a little nervous.
"Aida, someone asks for you in your store, pong!" A voice rang from afar.
"I'm going!" She screamed and looked at the girls. "I'm sorry I'm not of more help, pong."
While the Ponggo was running, the girls looked at her in silence, until suddenly they looked at each other again, this time with confused faces.
"Have you heard that?" Kairi asked.
"Like you," Edea replied.
"Okay, let's make a list of the events," Nina started. "As I know, Rena and Eve are of this world, when we arrive, we appear in the same place where they disappeared in the first place, but they say that the place has changed, suddenly a portal opens and swallows both inside it, and now we learned that the last time they saw them on this island was five years ago."
"That seems," Answered Kairi.
"Still, my mind is still messed up," Dio Edea, putting his hand on his head. "Wasn't supposed they left this world for weeks?"
"True."
The three then reclined on the chairs, looking at the ceiling, saying at the same time.
"What's happening here?"
Suddenly an alarm sounded throughout the cave, followed by noises of screams and destruction.
"What happens?" Kairi asked a Ponggo who was running scared.
"Nasod! Nasod are attacking us! They've activated again and they're attacking us, pong!" The Pong shouted without stopping.
"It seems that this mystery will have to wait," Answered Kairi.
"Yes, that seems," Edea said.
The girls got up from their chairs and ran to the focus of the noise. There they found part of the cavernous city in flames, with several machines of different shapes. Soon a robot with blades jumped towards Kairi, but this blocked the attack and countered with her Keyblade, destroying it with a blow. Two others jumped to meet her, but they found Edea, who began to contain the attacks of the two robots with her katana, destroying both robots without problems. At the same time, Nina began to conjure her spells to cause lightning to fall on several of the robots attacking the city, avoiding the firing of several robots armed with laser rifles.
The three continued to contain the robots, until they heard the sound of a beast, revealing to be a Hunter who was prostrating himself on several broken robots.
"Fallen, of course," Groaned Kairi, preparing her weapon, invoking the Ramuh Form when more Hunters appeared, followed by Skeletons Soldier, Wraiths, and other types of Fallen, supported by the Nasod attackers.
"Didn't have another moment to appear?!" Edea asked, annoyed as she dispatched several of the Fallen with her katana, blocking at the same time the attacks of several Armor Knights.
"Well, it doesn't seem like it!" Nina said, sending every elemental spell she had at her disposal against the massive invasion of enemies entering the city.
Kairi executed lightning attacks against all enemies that were close to her, in addition to electrocuting any Fallen in armor and Nasod with her enhanced Thundaga spells, until one of her attacks was blocked by a Sentinel who fired a powerful blast at Kairi.
She covered herself with her Keyblade to block the shot, but the explosion sent her backward, falling to the ground, moaning from the blow. When she tried to get up, he found the Sentinel's gun pointed at her head, with no possibility of avoiding the attack, while charging the energy weapon. Kairi then closed her eyes as the girls tried to reach her to save her, but then she heard an explosion, followed by the sound of pieces of armor falling everywhere. When it opened its eyes, there was a huge cloud of smoke where it was the Sentinel before. The only thing she could see was the silhouette of a person approaching her. Looking at the silhouette, she didn't notice that a Hunter had jumped on her, but fortunately, a projectile hit the Fallen, destroying it with the explosion, surprising Kairi for a moment, before looking back at the silhouette. When the smoke dissipated, she could see that it was a woman dressed in an elegant white suit with golden touches that seemed to consist of one piece, including boots; with an open skirt that resembled the tail of a swan; and with a long and elegant white bow with golden touches in one hand. When she was near Kairi, the woman bowed slightly and extended her free hand toward Kairi.
"I'm very sorry for the scare. Are you okay?" The woman asked, shocking Kairi as she recognized the voice on the spot. When he looked up, he could see that the woman was an elf with greenish yellow eyes and long yellow hair of a green hue, in addition to large breasts, which bosom was seen in the neckline of the suit. Some details that she would recognize in just one person.
"Rena?" She asked, receiving a warm smile from the elf as the only answer. Kairi then stood up and hugged her tightly. "Rena!"
Rena returned the hug, while Edea and Nina ran towards them, still in shock at the appearance of the elf which disappeared not long ago.
"Why, why did you disappear?" Kairi asked as he hugged the elf.
"That wasn't by our own will," said a second voice, causing Kairi to turn her head to one side, looking like a girl dressed in a black suit that looked like a robotic armor with two robotic black wings on the back and a black metal headband on the front. This girl had long white hair that came to her knees from behind, amber eyes, and blue marks under her eyes, with a blue crystal on the forehead. It also seemed to be accompanied by two little robots, one black and one white, who looked like knights.
"Eve!" Kairi exclaimed, separating from Rena.
"You too?!" Edea asked, more confused than ever. "What the hell is going on here?! Where have you been yourself?!"
A scream made them all turn around, seeing that they were now surrounded by both robots and Fallen.
"Not now, let's clean this place first," Rena said, preparing her bow and aiming at the enemy.
"Completely agree with you," Kairi said, preparing her Keyblade.
Rena started shooting mana arrows with an aim never seen before against any enemy that ended up at a range of shooting, even those very hidden. Eve invoked all kinds of steel spears and orbs of energy against the enemy, while Moby and Remy hit everyone who came too close. Edea attacked with her katana all Fallen and Nasod who attacked nearby regardless of the type of enemy. Nina executed each of her spells to keep any enemies at bay, magical or not, combining them with the group's attacks. Finally, Kairi attacked any enemy that was not attacked by the group with lightning attacks and powerful electric spells.
Finally, after the battle, all the Fallen and Nasod who were in their area had been destroyed. Kairi then looked at Rena and Eve, showing a smile on her face, but got a little worried as she continued to hear noises in the vicinity.
"This is not over, come on!" Kairi said, running towards the noise of the battle soon followed by the others.
It did not take long to find the Fallen and Nasod who were attacking the place, which seemed a much larger number than those who faced before, but their attention was soon caught by the arrival of the girls who were heading towards them.
Kairi hit a Soldier Skeleton on one side with her keyblade, causing several more Fallen to jump on it, but without warning several electric balls began to hit them repeatedly, soon destroying them. Wondering who he was, he noticed the presence of a girl with long purple hair in a white and dark purple dress with a long stick between her hands. This one soon raised its wand, generating a huge icicle of ice that threw against the enemy with force, causing serious casualties between them.
"Who the hell is she?" Nina asked, seeing the tremendous power of the girl.
"I do not know, but there are more people here," said Edea, noticing the presence of more people fighting against the various Fallen and Nasod
One of them was a man with black hair and a black and white suit armed with a neon blue blade, blocking the attacks of several Skeleton Soldiers and Nasod with blades effortlessly. Without warning a Hunter jumped behind him, but he extended his unarmed hand, generating in the air a force field that caught the Fallen in the air, soon ending with the enemies in front of a single horizontal cut, and splitting in two with a vertical cut to the Hunter.
"The presentations for later, let's clean up here first," Suggested Rena, starting to shoot her arrows at the Fallen and Nasods around her.
Another of them, a young man with light brown hair with white armor, and a huge two-sided cannon containing the stakes of several Stone Giants retreating, then pushed them and aimed at them with the huge cannon, firing a ball of energy that ends up doing pieces to the Fallen.
Another person, this time a black-and-white-haired girl in a white oriental suit with a four-bladed spear, who managed to avoid all the attacks of the Crossbow Armors and Nasod with rifles with animal agility, soon invoking a lot of fireballs that flew towards them, destroying the group. A Licker on a wall stretched his tongue towards her, but it jumped nimbly allowing the tongue to sink into the ground, soon perching on that tongue with bare feet without suffering any injury, before throwing a spiritual dagger against the Fallen, nailing itself in the brain of the Licker.
Several Nasod, Elemental Wraiths, and Skeleton Soldiers were heading towards a boy with light purple hair in a modern purple and black suit with several knife-shaped dynamos. He only smiled, extending his hand to the enemy so that the dynamos began to turn in front of him, generating energy in the center of the rotating field, soon releasing a powerful discharge of energy that destroyed the group in front of him, while laughing in a way maniac Edea got a bit nervous before the boy and his behavior.
A grey-haired man in a green, black and white suit armed with what looked like a pendulum was recoiling from the brutal attacks of a Giant Ax Armor. After several steps, the pendulum vanished and from his hand appeared a pair of huge orbs of light that launched the Fallen, impacting it and making it disappear. For a moment the man guided his gaze to Kairi, who was fighting with several Nasod at that time.
A light brown-haired woman in white and black clothes with a large rifle in her hands was holding several Wargs and Skeleton Soldiers with her gun, making sure they didn't get closer to her, soon throwing a grenade as she jumped away from a Nasod coming to her, which explosion of ice literally freeze the robot just to be destroyed with a shot from her rifle.
Kairi soon stopped by the side of a dark blue-haired man in a dark blue suit and a pair of sword-shaped cannons he was using against several Crimson Heads and Wargs running towards him. But none noticed that a Hunter was coming towards them from behind, jumping without warning to Kairi.
"Is that the girl you were talking about?" Asked a voice that Kairi heard, but did not know where it came from until a dark blue circle with a four-pointed star opened behind the man, coming out of it like lightning a girl with light purple hair in a white dress and dark blue, showing a pair of huge wings at his back and two curved horns on his head. Kairi was confused until she realized that the girl, or rather a demoness, had attacked with the claws of a huge glove the Hunter who had jumped towards her.
"Yes, she is," Rena responded after standing near Kairi and shooting arrows at the fallen group advancing toward them.
"T-t-t-t... that isn't-" Kairi was trying to ask Rena about the appearance of the girl who had appeared, but she interrupted her by addressing the demoness.
"Have you seen Elsword or Elesis by any chance?" The elf asked the devil.
"The siblings are now struggling with something big outside the cave, if you hurry, maybe you can help them, we're a little busy here," The demon girl responded, throwing an energy spear towards several Axe Armors, destroying them in the act. "By the way, it's a pleasure to meet a Princess of the Heart in person." Addressed the demoness to her.
Kairi was mentally blocked for a moment by what happened, but soon realized that if something big was out, if it came in it would be very dangerous, and Kairi ran to the exit, soon followed by the others who saw her running outside.
When they left the cave, they found that everything was covered by a large cloud of dust, from which two people soon jumped back. A red-haired boy in red and black armor armed with a large sword held in one hand and a red-haired girl in a black bodysuit exposing her left leg and cleavage and a white long jacket with a long flaming one-edged claymore in both hands.
"Are you OK?" Asked Rena to both, when from the cloud of dust appeared a Fallen that the girls recognized in the act: a Nemesis.
"That thing again?!" Edea asked scared, remembering what it took to destroy it the last time. "But how many lives does that have?!"
"I do not think it's the same we found in Gallowmere," Rena said.
"We must help them with him!" Edea said, ready to help, but Eve put her arm in the middle.
"Calm down, they'll take care of him," Answered the Nasod.
"Are you sure? That thing seems dangerous." Nina asked.
The Nemesis roared and lunged at the two swordsmen, both jumping on opposite sides, with the boy being the first to attack with his sword and damaging the body of the Fallen, while the girl also attacked the other side so that he could not focus on its objective.
The Fallen tried to turn around with both arms stretched to hit them both, but they were fast enough to dodge the attack. The girl soon ran to the Nemesis, avoiding a kick from it and hitting it with her claymore, causing serious damage to its body and causing it to retreat.
"Let's get this over with, brother," said the girl putting herself in front of the Nemesis when the boy stood next to her.
"Agree," The boy exclaimed, with his sword ready.
Both began to move quickly toward the Nemesis, who raised his arms to hit them. But these were not willing to allow his attack to end, and both executed a combined attack with their swords, causing a double diagonal cut in his body. The Fallen roared as he fell to his knees and began to shine, then end in a burst of black smoke, releasing the heart and the souls trapped in it.
The girls were amazed watching the two brothers who had managed to destroy a Fallen Chieftain as if nothing, taking into account the problems they had with that monster previously. Finally, Edea opened her mouth.
"Those two are really good."
"I think there will be no problems around here with them," Kairi said, beginning to calm down after the battle.
"I still detect something," Eve said, looking at the horizon seriously.
Both the girls and the brothers looked around. At first glance, there did not seem to be anyone until suddenly a robotic white armor of human form landed.
"Stark?" Kairi asked, recognizing the figure of the Avenger's armor, but Eve shook her head in denial. When the head of the armor directed its gaze to the group, a green lens could be seen in the center of the head. Kairi frowned. "Master Brain."
"Bravo, my dears, I have to admit that this result was very unexpected, which shows that a surprise attack does not work very well with you," Master Brain responded. "Especially when you receive help from others," He said and pointed to the siblings. "First question, who are you exactly?"
"My name is Elsword," The boy replied without taking his eyes off the machine. "And she is my sister Elesis."
"Got it," Master Brain replied, soon turning his gaze to Eve and Rena "By the way, aren't your friends a bit changed since we last saw each other?"
"Forget it, what are you doing here?" Asked Rena, pointing her bow against the robot.
"Easy, I have not come to fight yet," Master Brain moved his arms to calm the elf.
"You've reactivated the Nasod, right?" Eve asked.
"Well yes, and it's an honor to finally meet the Queen of the Nasod, by the way," Master Brain responded. "Reactivating their codes has been at best, a child's play."
"You should be good with robotics if you can do something like that," The boy of the dynamos said when he left the cave with the rest of the group.
"Well, I do not want to give me too much hype, but that's the way it is, and it's not the only thing that scares me," Master Brain responded.
"Is this the person behind all this?" Asked the magician girl with the staff. "It does not seem like much."
"Oh, you should not trust appearances, because, at first glance, you don't look like anything otherworldly, and look at what you have achieved, and besides, these Nasod are not the only thing I have reactivated."
Eve stared at the robot until it frowned. "King Nasod."
"What?" Asked Rena, looking at Eve.
"You're kidding, right? With what it cost us to destroy him the last time," The man with the saber answered.
"Exactly, ladies and gentlemen, King Nasod, known by the code name of Adam, has been rebuilt, and is now under the control of this unit, and therefore to me, which gives me control over all the Nasod of the region."
"Damn you!" Rena aimed back to Master Brain.
"If you want to stop me, I'll be waiting for you in a special place, part of this group knows what place I'm meaning, after all, they were there five years ago, right?"
After those words, the Master Brain robot went flying, heading to the area of the central mountain of the island.
The group observed where the robot was heading, without mentioning a word for a moment, until finally, Edea spoke.
"I know this situation is pretty desperate, but before we get into what could be the wolf's den... What the hell is going on here?!"
Edea's rise in tone surprised everyone, who now looked at Edea. Then without coming to mind, Rena began to laugh at the top of her lungs.
"It's true, we owe you an explanation of everything," Rena said when she stopped laughing.
Rena and Eve began to explain to the girls what had really happened with their disappearance and why they had returned. It turned out that the portal was a rift in space and time that originally sent them five years in the future, which explained Eve's strange data when she arrived on the island, and when they returned to the place where they disappeared the first time, the rift opened and swallowed both in an attempt to restore order in time and space. After that, Rena and Eve, along with a growing group of warriors, which would eventually become known as the El Search Party, fought against all kinds of enemies and rivals, but not before Eve set an alarm thinking about this situation, with the idea of returning as soon as possible as soon as the alarm sounded to avoid situations such as the recent attack. When the alarm sounded, Eve and Rena decided to return to the island, being accompanied by the rest of their group, which was presented to the girls.
"Ok, I understand," Edea said after the explanation, her head tilted.
"Let's see: Elsword, Aisha, Raven, Chung, Ara, Elesis, Add, Lu, Ciel, Rose, Zero?, and Ain, isn't it?" Nina listed looking at Elsword, the magician, the swordsman, the armored boy with the grand cannon, the girl in the oriental costume, Elesis, the boy with the dynamos, the two demons, the sniper girl, and a small robot who seemed to accompany her, and the man with grey hair after Rena introduced them to the girls.
"Yeah that's right," Raven answered Nina.
"It's a pleasure to meet you at last!" Ara said, bowing toward them with a broad smile.
"Well, all that is fine, but I think we should deal with the current situation, do not you think?" Kairi asked.
"She is right," Aisha said. "If King Nasod has been reactivated, we can be in trouble."
"Not to mention that Master Brain will have our data from the Nasod files after our last visit," Rena said.
"And if he has that data, I think we're all in trouble," Edea said with her arms crossed.
"I don't think it's like that," Ain said, capturing the group's attention.
"Ha, you're smarter than I thought," Add replied to Ain.
"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?"
"If for some reason, even if Master Brain had acquired our combat data after our last stay at Altera, they will be identical to the data that Rena showed so far and those that part of the group had at that time," Eve followed.
"You're implying that the Master Brain data has of you is... obsolete?" Kairi asked.
"It is right!" Rena answered. "Even Chung, Ara, Elesis, and the others were not with us back then, so he doesn't know the true power of our group right now!"
"Perfect, I was already starting to want to split that robot in two," Said Elsword animatedly.
"And where exactly is the place where we should find him if it can be known?" Edea asked.
The whole group then became serious and looked at the central mountain.
"The Altera Core," Rena answered.
"This island was built with a Nasod fortress in the center of the island, which makes that island can float, and the heart of it is the Altera Core," Eve said. "It's probably the place where Master Brain controls everything."
"If so, the place will be very well controlled," Said Kairi. "It will be very difficult to reach him, especially if we have to use the main entrance, which who knows where it is."
"That's right, after all, we had to cross the whole island and face all the Nasod to get to the entrance to the Core," Aisha said.
"And most likely, he will have activated all the Nasod security of the only possible entry," Raven replied. "It will be very difficult to get to that Master Brain before he unleashes all the power of the Core."
"I do not think it's a problem," Eve said, making Edea, Kairi, and Nina look at her.
"Yes, it is," Rena said. "I very much doubt that Master Brain is aware of Eve's true potential, it will hack the security system and we can easily get through the Nasod Factory."
"And don't forget me, I'm basically a genius too," Add said with a smile on his face.
"It will not be necessary," Eve said, now making everyone see her. "There is a secret entrance, which can be used to enter the core directly."
"A secret entrance?!" Everyone asked when they heard that information.
"Great!" Rena said. "I didn't know that, and I'm sure he didn't either!"
"And, what's the downside?" Kairi asked.
"This entrance is below the island, just where the Core in," Eve said, generating the hologram of a small outline of the island, and showing the entry point. "The best way to operate in this situation would be to distract the enemy at the main entrance, while we infiltrate the Core from here."
Everyone was silent to hear Eve's explanation and idea.
"That's not a problem, it's suicide!" Edea exclaimed knowing it. "We all cannot fly, you know?! And I doubt they let the Gummi Ship get close as well," Then she looked at the girls, who seemed to have an idea. "What happens?"
"This is a damn joke, isn't it?!"
Edea exclaimed, while she grabbed with both arms to Moby and Remy who were carrying her, while Nina carried Kairi in her arms and Eve held Rena, the group came flying to the outer area of Altera Core under the island.
"It's the only way to get there," Eve answered. "The possibility of having guards in this area of the island is zero, so we will not have problems in arriving."
"And it turns out that it is me who has to go with the twin robots?" Edea asked.
"Don't complain so much and calm down," Rena answered.
"Do you think they will be fine?" Kairi asked, trying to change the subject.
"Do not worry, we have fought with them all these years against all kinds of enemies," Rena said, smiling with determination. "They will be able to do this."
For their part, the El Search Party had crossed the whole island until they reached the entrance of a factory abandoned for a long time, and after entering they began to hear noises from inside.
"I never thought I would come back here after all this time," Raven commented, putting his hand on his left arm.
"Oh right, even if it does not show, your arm Nasod was created here," Replied Add. "I'm surprised you remodeled it to look human," That comment earned a look of annoyance from Raven.
"Several of us never thought about going back here, but as you see, we're again in this factory," Answered Aisha.
"I would like to have a talk of old memories as the most, but we have company," Elesis said, looking inside the factory.
From the dark interior of the factory, innumerable Nasod and Fallen began to advance toward the group, forming an apparently impenetrable barrier for the group.
"As Eve suspected, Master Brain has sent us all the artillery," The robot Zero responded floating on Rose.
"It's not surprising, really, this is supposed to be the only way to get to the Core," Replied Add. "He would be a fool if he didn't put all his defenses here."
"That doesn't matter, we're here for a reason," said Elsword. "We must distract them as much as we can until they can stop Master Brain."
"And at the same time we will be distracted by what it seems," Ain commented, observing the background behind the enemy line, as something was approaching.
From the bottom, a Bone Tarantula was charging at full speed, roaring sinisterly as it approached through the various Fallen and Nasod in the middle of the road.
"A spider?!" Aisha exclaimed with a jump. "Why did I have to be a spider?! I hate them!" Aisha said, preparing her staff.
"That doesn't matter since it will not be the only thing that attacks us," Raven said, arming himself with his sword, his body beginning to form electric sparks.
"Do not worry, I will not allow them to move forward even if all of them come," Chung said, banging his cannon against the ground, a white helmet with blue wavy hair appearing on his head.
"According to Rena and Eve, they're all living nightmares, so let's show them we're not afraid of them," Ara replied when her hair turned white with two fox ears appearing on her head, her eyes turning red with red marks appearing on her cheeks and under her eyes.
"Even if they turn into our nightmares, we will face them," Elesis said, grabbing her claymore with both hands and filling it with fire.
"Maybe it's time to show them who are the nightmares here then, Activating Dynamo Mode!" Add smiled, his dynamos starting to fly around him, his body enveloped by the energy of these dynamos, causing him to start floating on the ground.
"Nasod or Fallen, in my opinion, we should teach them what are real demons," Lu said, creating a spectral spear with her hand.
"Even if it's like that, they're not the typical enemies we've faced before," Ciel said, grabbing a huge cross-shaped cannon in his hand.
"True, if we neglect, it will be our end, so let's strike with all the artillery too," Rose said, kneeling down and aiming forward with her rifle.
"In any case, these horrible creatures can't stay in this world any longer," Ain said, breaking his pendulum, his body becoming celestial green and creating energy orbs in his hands.
"I only have one thing to say about it," Elsword said closing his eyes, then preparing for battle and opening his eyes, showing a blue tone in the lower half of his eyes. "Come if you dare!"
When the Bone Tarantula came to the front and attacked the group, the rest of the Fallen and Nasod jumped on them, thus beginning their battle of distraction.
When the girls reached the outer wall of the Altera Core structure, Eve sent a signal to the wall, causing it to open before them.
"Come inside," Eve said at the open access.
The five entered through a small tunnel opened by the wall, until reaching a huge robotic room formed by several semicircular platforms, one of which landed, with a gigantic structure closed in the very center of the room. At first, it seemed to be abandoned and in a semi-ruinous state, but one could hear some sounds that indicated that some systems in the area were still active.
Kairi noticed that Eve was looking around, unable to guess what she thought of her face. "Something happens?"
Eve was silent for a moment. "It's only, I thought I would never come back to this place."
"Yes, neither do I. I still remember the problems we had in this place," Rena answered.
"Apparently, Master Brain has not detected us, that's fine," Edea said, looking around, and seeing that no enemy was approaching them.
"The distraction of the main entrance has worked," Said Kairi. "But we have to be careful with the alarms."
"I doubt it's necessary," Eve said. "The whole place works with El, and in the absence of that power, most systems don't work."
"But what about King Nasod?"
"The most possible thing is that it is he who can keep him active," Answered the Nasod.
"Let's find that brainiac and get outta here," Edea said. "Where do you think he will be?"
"I think that structure of the center could be what we are looking for," Nina said, pointing to the structure in the center of the room.
"Let me guess, the little robots again?"
"Only when necessary."
After advancing through the remains of Altera's Core, without encountering any enemy, either Fallen or Nasod, the group reached what seemed to be the entrance to the interior of the structure, and after meditating on it, they entered inside. Inside, they saw a large room with several platforms in a semicircle, with two huge machines on opposite sides. The girls looked around, finding nothing.
"It's strange, he should be here," Eve said.
"Who, King Nasod or Master Brain?" Edea asked.
"The former," Rena answered. "It's too big for-"
"I have to admit that you surprised me," Master Brain's voice sounded in the room as his robotic armor soon appeared flying to the center of the lower platform, forcing the group to split to get away from him. "I never thought there would be a secret entrance in this place, let alone that your friends would distract the attention of my creatures in the main entrance, I'm really surprised."
"If you had observed all the data about Altera, and not just the vital data you needed, you would have found out," Eve answered coldly. "And you should not belittle the trustworthiness of the El Search Party in others."
"Well, all geniuses tend to ignore certain things, I admit it," Master Brain raised his hands to shoulder height for a moment. "But clearly, I'm not interested in mundane structures, mine is biology, being sincere."
"If so, what did you look for in Atlantis the other time?" Edea asked.
"The Atlanteans were known for their technology, so I thought about using it, as I will with the Nasod."
Master Brain raised his arm and began to hear how something huge began to move, soon appearing the floating torso of a giant robot with huge flying arms. The group stared in horror at the huge Nasod in front of them.
"Adam..." Eve named, watching the colossal Nasod.
"Is that what I think it is?!" Asked Edea, whose answer was more than obvious to all.
"How are we going to beat that thing?!" Nina asked, without taking her eyes off the robot.
Rena then shot an arrow at Master Brain, who blocked with his arm. "Very smart, how did you deduce it?"
"King Nasod needs a huge source of energy that we damaged five years ago, and the safest thing is that to have it active, you use the energy of your machine for that."
"As I said before, very clever, it is true that this unit controls King Nasod, and as you can deduce, to execute my plans, the robot is only a transmitter of my codes now. The Nasod are preparing a mass attack on the village of moles on the surface, after getting rid of your friends at the entrance."
"You're a monster, you know that?!" Kairi claimed Master Brain, pointing her Keyblade at him.
"Oh, dear, I think you should point that weapon somewhere else."
Then the two machines that were in the room began to open, revealing two huge Nasod with a cannon in the right arm, one of them red and the other blue.
"The Nasod Twins? You have to be kidding!" Rena said, looking at both Nasod.
"What are those things?" Edea asked, brandishing her katana.
"Ignis and Leviathan, Nasod able to use fire and ice," Eve said before looking at Master Brain. "You should know that they were destroyed before, and our combat level is higher than then."
"Just like them. You see, I've made some modifications to those two to increase their power, you know, for the occasion, and now if you don't mind, I want to see the fight from the 'royal' seat," Master Brain flew out to King Nasod and sat on the robot's head.
Then the two Nasod aimed their cannons, throwing a fireball and an icicle respectively to the group in the center, but they avoided the attack, causing them to collide with each other and cause an explosion.
"We take care of the blue, you of the red!" Rena said, looking at the Nasod Leviathan with Eve, while Kairi, Edea, and Nina looked at the Nasod Ignis.
Rena started firing mana arrows at the blue Nasod, hardly receiving any damage from her attacks.
"It seems that they have been improved," Rena said, before starting to shoot a quick flurry of arrows over the blue Nasod.
Eve, on the other hand, overflew the Nasod, attacking with its two drones and throwing all kinds of spears on the body of the robot, hitting it with force with a large steel spear.
On their side, Kairi and Edea began to attack with their weapons the red Nasod, while Nina executed spells of ice, lightning, and earth, assuming that the fire would not have much effect on him.
Ignis tried to hit the girls with his huge arms, but Edea jumped back avoiding the blow, while Kairi blocked the impact with her Keyblade, soon invoking her Shiva Form, beginning to freeze the ground at the feet of the red Nasod to hold him on the ground.
"My dear, that trick will not work."
The red Nasod soon began to fire on the ice, undoing it in seconds, soon casting the flames on Kairi, who slid behind him.
"Well it was a good idea, but anyway, sometimes you have to fight the fire with fire," Said Kairi, then changing to the Ifrit Form.
Eve continued her attacks on the blue Nasod until it began to send a cloud of freezing mist to the Nasod, forcing her to avoid the attack. But Rena fired an arrow of ice from her bow that hit the blue Nasod cannon, disabling the weapon.
"You are no longer the only one capable of freezing," Rena said with a smile on her face, before firing an arrow that caused an explosion of mana on impact.
Kairi continued with his attacks against the red Nasod, using the resistance of the Ifrit Form to contain the fire attacks of the robot, while Edea managed to attack him from behind taking advantage of his distraction.
Nina then summoned a great thunder that hit Ignis full, electrocuting and paralyzing him for the moment, giving Kairi time to pierce the robot's chest with her Keyblade and throw several Firaga inside, overheating the Nasod and causing it will explode into pieces because of the heat overload.
Rena continued firing her arrows at the blue Nasod, covering Eve who continued attacking Leviathan circling him, until the Nasod landed and trapped the blue Nasod inside an energy ball and generated a halberd of energy from the orb in two, with the blue Nasod on it, causing the two halves to fall down the sides of the platform.
"Boring," Replied Master Brain and pointed his hand at Kairi, beginning to generate a sphere of energy. Rena and Nina tried to attack him with mana arrows and spells, but those attacks ended up attracted to the generated sphere of Master Brain, assuming that any kind of magic would not help.
When he launched the orb, Kairi formed the Alexander Form as soon as possible, putting himself in a defensive position to receive the blow. When the orb touched Kairi's thick armor, the attack dissolved around him as if nothing had happened.
"That armor is a real nuisance..." Master Brain commented before his robot jumped from the huge robot with his hands raised to crush Kairi when landing, but it jumped to the side, thus avoiding the attack.
With the robot of the crazy genius at hand, now Edea and Kairi began to attack him physically, while he defended himself by blocking the attacks with his arms until he responded with a right fist against Kairi, who blocked the blow despite backing down by the force of this one, but at least the Alexander Form protected her from harm. Rena then started firing her arrows at Master Brain to try to cause her some damage as well as prevent her from launching any attacks, Eve took advantage of the moment to attack by invoking a flurry of iron thorns that flew over the robot, while Nina cast electric spells using the thorns as a base for the attack.
Master Brain then extended his left hand, starting to shoot lasers from the palm of his hand against Eve and Rena, forcing them to dodge the shots without falling off the platform, but their attack stopped when Edea hit his arm with her katana. He responded by trying to hit her with the arm but failed after she crouches in time, hitting hin between the legs with her weapon.
Master Brain only observed Edea when she did that. "I cannot understand what you thought of doing that."
Edea blushed embarrassed at the comment. "Me neither," Then she rolled to the side to avoid a kick from the robot.
Nina continued to cast several of her spells on Master Brain, finally hitting with a huge, thick thunderclap invoked by her, but the robot simply raised her hand and started firing lasers at the winged girl, forcing her to fly in circles to avoid the shots, but then Kairi helped her by hitting Master Brain in the back, distracting him from his partner.
"All, move away!" Rena screamed without warning, shooting an arrow into the sky.
They all walked away from Master Brain, who soon noticed something above him, and looking up, saw a rain of mana arrows fall on him, causing several amounts of damage to the armor by the power of the attack.
Kairi then pointed his Keyblade at Master Brain and launched a line of light that flew to the feet of the robot, generating a white circle under the machine. This effect confused Kairi a bit, as he expected to hit what was Master Brain, and not the ground under him.
"It's a shame, really, but you will not win with those cheap tricks," Master Brain said pointing his hand, still damaged, to Kairi.
Then without warning, the area of the white circle caused a violent explosion that destroyed Master Brain's robot, leaving only parts of the robot, and surprising all the girls, including Kairi, none being able to say a word.
"If that's the special attack that form has, try not to miss the target, okay?" Edea said finally.
A huge noise brought them out of their stupor, directing their gaze to the huge giant robot, which began to fall on the bottom of the structure, while most lights began to fade gradually.
"Everything is over," Rena said, watching as King Nasod's body fell slowly.
"No, not yet," Eve answered, and when she landed she spread out and made dozens of screen-like holograms appear, the Nasod began to operate these holograms for quite some time, while the group watched her closely until it ended and the holograms disappeared. "Now Master Brain will not be able to regain control of this place, I have placed a program that forces all Nasod systems in place to shut down immediately if someone tries to reactivate them without my codes."
"Well thought," Said Kairi.
"I guess you couldn't do that with that being here, right?" Nina asked as she landed, Eve nodding at the question.
"Okay, now I suggest we get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want to be here any longer than necessary," Edea said. "And if it is possible to not do it outside the island better."
After leaving the Altera Core and reuniting with the rest of the El Search Party, the group returned to the Gummi Ship, which was still in good condition despite being exposed, so obviously, Master Brain never found it.
"Well, I guess this is the farewell, right?" Elsword asked Rena and Eve.
"I do not think so, we're only going to be away until all this problem is solved, but I trust you will not leave in our absence, right?" Rena said.
"You can be sure of that," Elesis answered winking at her, making Rena smile.
"Does this thing really fly?" Add asked while he, Rose, and Zero watched the Gummi Ship.
"Yes, it can fly, and be careful what you do, okay?" Edea said, worried about what they could do to the ship.
"Good ridance!" Ara suddenly let go with a smile.
The girls were preparing to access the Gummi Ship, but before entering the ship, Edea gave a suggestion.
"You know what, if it were possible, we could take one of the ships from here and use it, I'm a little tired from traveling like that, I also need my space."
That stopped the group, causing them to think for a moment.
"Actually, it's not a bad idea," said Kairi. "But as you can see, all this is in ruins, I doubt there's anything functional here."
"That's true," Nina replied. "I'm sure it would take months to repair one of those ships and adapt it for us."
"Not to say they may be infected with Alterasias," Raven said.
"Altera-what?" Nina asked Raven, this one without answering.
Eve and Rena looked at each other for a moment without saying anything, until Edea noticed. "You're too quiet right now, you know?"
"That's true," Aisha said to Edea's comment.
"The truth, if I'm honest... we already thought of something like that when we went back to the past," Rena said.
Everyone looked at Rena confused until Eve spoke. "Accompany me."
The group accompanied the elf and the Nasod to a part of the island, which looked like the ruins of a factory, with the remains of ships everywhere.
"Okay, now?"
"Even if you don't believe it, this section of the island still works, even after five years, and is totally isolated," Eve said. "So, I programmed him to build a spacecraft with the data he had and that I thought would be useful."
"A ship? Really?" Edea asked surprised.
"And how come I did not know anything about that?" Asked Add to Eve.
"You shouldn't know, since it was none of your business," Eve answered.
"And what kind of ship is it?" Kairi and Elsword asked at the same time.
"Now you will see," Rena said.
Eve generated several holograms and manipulated several of them, but soon the ground began to tremble, soon opening what looked like a door in the ground. Soon, from the open opening, a large silver ship began to ascend, with two elongated wing-like wings on the sides of the ship.
"Wow!" Edea exclaimed, being the only thing he could say.
"Have you really made this?" Kairi asked, looking at the huge ship. "Here could fit up to 12 people!"
"Or even more!" Zero answered, watching the huge ship. "It's amazing that something like that was built automatically on this island!"
"I think the same," Commented Add.
"I thought it might be useful to have a ship able to take us and not just to load the Gummi Ship inside, but also to defend itself," Eve said. "Also, this model was going to be built before the Nasod were deactivated."
"Simply amazing," Nina said, watching the huge ship. "And what's inside?"
"The control room, the power generator room, individual rooms, showers, kitchen, supply store, and other rooms which we will decide what will be used at the time."
"I see you've thought of everything, huh?" Chung commented to Eve.
"You are incredible," Kairi said, directing her gaze to the group. "To have to see how everything has changed. At first, I left alone with the Gummi Ship, and now I have beside me a skillful swordswoman, a winged magician, an archer elf, and a warrior Nasod, in addition to this huge ship."
"Yes, we only need one demon to complete the group!" Edea joked with a smile.
The group stared at Edea after her joke, just when Lu started to laugh at his joke.
"Be careful what you say, what could be true," Nina said to Edea.
"As if that were possible!" Rena said, hearing Ciel's forced cough.
Kairi turned her gaze back to the huge ship they could now use until she thought of something.
"Eve... is it also furnished by chance?"
The only answer Kairi received was an awkward silence that lasted for a long time.
