Inside the Central Lab…
Dachii, Marachii, and Luca backed away as their mind-controlled teammates approached.
"Okay, any bright ideas?" Marachii asked. "Other than try not to die?"
"It's six on three," Luca pointed out. "Each of us take two. I'll take Hikari and Saori."
"Why do you get the easy ones?" Marachii demanded.
"Because I called first dibs," Luca answered. "Besides, Hikari knows me, and she knows she's not a fighter. Mind-controlled or not, she's not that hard to deal with."
Luca approached Hikari. "Right, Hikari—-?"
BOOM.
With one kick, she sent Luca slamming into the wall so hard it dented, surprising Marachii.
"Nice kick," Dachii commented.
"When did she LEARN to kick?" Marachii questioned.
Luca dropped to the ground. "Note to self, Hikari is no pushover."
Sirena giggled. "Under my guidance, their full potential can be brought out! Hikari, was it? She's no damsel, she's actually got some super potent moves in her arsenal! Like this! Health Drain!"
Hikari held out her hands, and pink beams latched onto Dachii, Marachii, and Luca, sapping their strength.
"New plan," Luca coughed. "Marachii, you take Hikari."
"Don't try to switch it up now!"
Dachii summoned his gauntlets. "I'll take Akari and Aoki."
Marachii and Luca both turned toward him.
"Those two are beasts," Luca warned him. "You sure you want that matchup?"
"It's fine," Dachii assured. "Either they lose, or I do."
"That settles that then," Luca remarked. "Marachii, you take Saori. I'll get Hikari."
"What about Fujii and Naito?" Marachii asked.
"We'll figure that out as we go. Watch out!"
Saori blasted Marachii with a rainbow beam, but Marachii used his tendrils to pull himself out of the way. "Not cool, Saori!"
"You're not cool," she replied. "Don't be scared, this won't hurt! That much."
She fired another beam, and he tripped her using his tendrils, making her misfire. "Sorry!"
"Don't apologize!" Luca told him. "We've gotta beat the sense into them!"
Hikari pushed him back using a wave of pink energy, sapping his strength and making him cough blood.
"Hikari," he wheezed. "Kinda starting to get on my nerves…"
Hikari grabbed him by his neck, lifting him. "So pathetic, Luca. Your Element has such potential but you waste it. Let Lady Sirena make you better…she makes everything better…"
"Yeah, no," Luca refused, throwing an axe at her, which embedded itself in her arm. "I'll definitely make fun of you for this later, though!"
Hikari ripped the axe out, her face a scowl. "You'll pay for that!"
Golden light flicked off her hands, and a portal opened, causing an array of blades to fall out, nearly impaling Luca.
"Great, she's using her magic too!"
She tossed Luca to the floor just as Saori did the same with Marachii, who rubbed his back.
"Now that I think about it," Marachii realized. "We kinda suck compared to them."
"Yeah," Luca agreed. "No kidding."
BOOM.
A surge of energy erupted, causing Dachii to slide back. Akari landed in front of him, and he put his fists up.
"Still not a fan of hurting women," he murmured.
Akari charged her fists with energy. "Don't worry. You won't."
Luca and Marachii got behind Dachii, putting their hands on his shoulders.
"You got this, bro!" Marachii cheered on.
"Yeah, show her who's boss!" Luca added. "We'll watch from back here."
Akari and Dachii collided fists at the same time, causing the entire room to shake. Dachii threw another punch, and so did she, matching his strength with a loud BOOM.
"Ooh, this is going to be a goodie!" Sirena clapped. "Akari, pummel him!"
Akari punched Dachii in the stomach, but his body glowed gray, and her fist bounced off. Dachii grabbed her arm and flung her into the air, but she flipped and recovered, landing gracefully.
"Dachii, look out!" Marachii shouted.
A blade soared over Dachii's head, and he ducked under it. He looked and saw Aoki pointing her weapon at him.
"Brings back memories," she told him."
"Sure does," he replied.
Sirena's eyes flashed purple for a moment. "Did I mention I can access all of their memories?"
"No," Marachii said. "No, you did not!"
"Well I can!" she giggled. "And this one has some dark secrets. Like, super dark."
She gestured to Aoki. "And her powers! They're truly awesome! Let's try them out! Aoki! Use your Corruption Magic!"
"Yes, m'lady," she responded.
Aoki summoned a black card, and her entire body and katana became enveloped in gooey black energy. Her eyes flashed a dangerous red.
"Now, give your pal Dachii a taste, will you?" Sirena ordered.
Aoki slashed at Dachii, but Dachii used his powers and jumped into the air. In the blink of an eye, she caught up to him, kicking him to the ground.
"Corrupting Slash!"
She sliced the air, and black slashes zipped at Dachii like a bullet, who avoided them but got grazed in his shoulder by the final one.
"This isn't blood," Dachii commented, feeling his shoulder, which spouted a black liquid.
"It's not," Aoki confirmed. "It's a corrosive substance. Eats up your body, your blood, and turns into sticky black goo from the inside out."
"I can regenerate," Dachii stated.
"You can," Aoki taunted. "But it's gonna be a little busy fighting off my corruption. That means when I hit you, it'll hurt."
Aoki leaped into the air, spinning in an arc before cutting Dachii across the arm, which was slow to heal.
"I see."
A large torrent of white energy came for him, but Marachii used a tendril to pull Dachii out of the way just as Luca regrouped with them.
"We're backed into a corner here," Luca noted. "How do we wake them up?"
"If Sirena is controlling them, maybe she can break the mind control!" Marachii deduced. "Hey, Miss Sirena! I think you've proven your point! Can you let them go now?"
"Nope!" she giggled.
"That failed," Luca pointed out. "Plan B. Hit her hard enough to break the link."
He threw his axe at her, but Naito deflected it into the air, her purple eyes glaring at him.
"Do not dare attempt to harm our Lady," she warned.
"Anyone got a plan C?" Luca asked.
Aoki, Akari, Hikari, and Saori all trapped them, repeating the same thing.
"Join Lady Sirena…she makes everyone better…Join Lady Sirena…she makes everything better…!"
"WOOF! WOOF!"
Everyone stopped and turned around, where Fido was standing by the lab door, barking at Sirena.
"Fido, my little buttercup!" Sirena gushed. "What's wrong?"
Fido barked again. "New owner in trouble! New owner in trouble!"
Sirena's eyes shifted between Marachii and Fido. "No, no! That's not it at all, sweetie! I'm making your new owner better, nothing else!"
Fido's eyes glowed blue and he fired a laser at Sirena, shocking the boys.
"Fido!" Sirena exclaimed. "How dare you fire that thing at me?"
Fido stood on his hind legs and started barking at her. "Owner bad! Owner bad!"
"If you're going to be like that, I'm going to lock you in your cage!"
Fido quickly hurried over to the boys.
"Fido!" Marachii gasped. "You can fight?"
Fido wagged his tail, licking Marachii.
"Of course he can fight!" Sirena stated. "He's a perfect blend of organic and technological science! Only issue is he's being a BAD dog! Assistants! Get him too!"
Saori swiped her hand. "Resonance!"
A vibration hit them, dropping them to their knees.
"My powers, I can't feel them!" Marachii shouted.
"Me neither," Luca added. "She must have severed our connection to them!"
Saori clapped. "Good guess!"
"Good work, Saori," Aoki said. "Now subdue them."
The moment they got close, Fido kicked off Aoki, pushing her back. "Bad girl! Bad!"
"Fido!" Sirena complained.
"And the dog's super strong," Luca blurted out. "What next?"
Dachii stretched out his arm. "We're still stronger and faster than average."
"That's right!" Marachii realized. "She cut off the Elemental effects, but not the physical ones!"
"Just like against that dungeon boss," Luca recalled. "Let's throw some hands."
He swung a punch at Hikari, who caught his fist in hers and bent it back. "Ow. Ow. Okay! Okay! Tap! Tap!"
Marachii tried to jump and strike Saori, but she easily side-stepped his attack, making him crash to the floor and pinning him down with her foot.
"Ugh. Should've taken combat training more seriously…"
Akari and Dachii circled each other, neither taking their eyes off one another.
"Remember when I beat you when we first met?" Akari asked him.
"Yeah."
"This will be a follow-up to that. I know all your moves. You can't beat me."
She lifted her leg and kicked down, and Dachii blocked with both his arms, but was forced to his knees as the room shook.
"Hey!" Marachii yelled, wobbling. "Some of us are trying to fight here!"
Saori blasted him with a rainbow beam.
Akari straightened herself and delivered a powerful kick to Dachii's side, sending him reeling.
"This one's got heaps of talent!" Sirena bragged. "A Princess with such powerful magic and Elemental prowess, it's no wonder she's been privileged all her life!"
Fujii picked Sirena up and put her on his back as she giggled childishly.
Dachii got up, breathing hard.
"Wait, I still feel some Elemental strength inside me," he thought. "She must have severed my connection to Gravity, but not Deity. Without two Elements at once, maybe I can draw on my remaining one."
Akari walked forward, a hand on her hip. "As your Princess, I'm only going to say this once. Surrender."
"I second that," Aoki said. "As your Vice-General."
Dachii cracked his neck. "I never wanted to come back anyway. But you dragged me back. So I'm dragging you."
He closed his eyes, and an orange light enveloped him. Once he opened them, his eyes were glowing orange.
"Whoa!" Sirena exclaimed. "Is that Deity? Man, oh, man, I totally forgot I was supposed to capture that! Girls, grab him!"
Akari reached out, but Dachii backhanded her into Sirena, causing the two and Fujii to fall over.
"Big mistake," Aoki growled.
Dachii put his fists up. "I feel…different."
"You will, once I'm done with you."
Moving at extreme speeds, Aoki rapidly attacked Dachii, who managed to keep up, narrowly evading her attacks.
"She's never shown this much speed before," Dachii thought. "Was she holding out?"
"Corrupting Slash!"
Another wave of slashes fired off her blade, but Dachii slipped through them and punched Aoki in the stomach, making her drop.
"Dachii?" Marachii questioned. "How are you…?"
Dachii looked at his hands. "I've only got one Element left. Saori's power must have awakened it."
Luca sized him up. "The aura isn't as strong as before. Maybe you're using a low threshold of it?"
"Likely."
Saori threw out her hands. "Resonance!"
Dachii ducked before the vibration could hit him, and blocked another attack from Akari, who relentlessly pummeled his arms, which withstood her room-shaking attacks.
"I don't know…how much longer…I can keep this up…!" he admitted.
Fido barked at Sirena, who pointed a finger at him. "No more treats for you, mister!"
"I have an idea!" Marachii announced. "Fido, can you get us outta here?"
Fido wagged his tail and nodded. "Fido set you free!"
"Good! What's the best exit to this place?"
Fido sprinted off. "Follow me!"
The boys shared a look and ran after the dog.
"Don't let them escape!" Sirena ordered.
Fido hopped onto a hidden pressure plate, which opened a hatch. "Fido knows all about this place! Fido was made here! Jump here! It leads to escape from lab!"
After briefly glancing back, they all jumped into the hatch before it closed. Fujii walked Sirena over to it, and she stomped her feet.
"I'm going to spank that damn dog! All of you, spread out and locate them! Don't let them escape this dome!"
They all nodded and dispersed.
Sirena pushed a button on her remote, and a blaring voice on the speakers throughout the dome announced:
"ALERT. ALERT. LOCKDOWN ENABLED."
"Try escaping now, hehe!"
Meanwhile…
Dachii, Luca, and Marachii all fell out of a tube and into the ocean. They popped above the water, where Fido was swimming.
"Fido!" Marachii praised. "You found a secret hatch!"
"It's a trash chute!" Fido barked. "Used for waste and garbage!"
"That explains the smell," Luca winced, brushing gunk out of his hair. "Look! There's Umego Island!"
"Let's swim to it," Marachii suggested. "Grab on."
Marachii's body shifted into a car-boat, and they zipped across the water, making it to the edge of the island, where the Directors and the public were waiting.
"Boys?" Shōtarō Fujita wondered. "Where are the rest of you?"
"They're stuck inside the Technodome," Dachii explained.
"And that inventor took control of their minds!" Marachii added. "All in a matter of seconds!"
The crowd gasped.
"Sirena did this?" Azura asked.
"You know her?" Luca replied, suspiciously.
The Directors hesitated.
"She…helps us from time to time with our tech," Akira sighed. "A handy backer to have!"
"Yeah, she was pretty handy until Aoki turned her machine into a thousand pieces."
"She BROKE one of her toys?" Kojiro covered his mouth. "That's the biggest no-no on her list!"
"Is there anything we can do?" Marachii worried.
"Come with us," Shōtarō insisted. "We'll need to devise a plan, and fast."
He addressed the public. "Everyone! Back within the walls! It's not safe!"
As everyone hurried into the city, no one noticed the hooded girl blending in with the crowd:
Naito.
"I've located them," she said, whispering into her watch. "Prepare for an update."
—-