Nara's eyes widened as Sylas's body hit the dirt. The green winds that had once surged with godlike power now flickered weakly around him before vanishing entirely.
"What the—" She muttered, but her words never finished and her entire body went cold.
She turned, but it was too late.
A massive grey fist slammed into her with brutal force. Her body tore through the hull of their starship, before skipping across the distant green lake a few times until she vanished beneath the surface.
The guardian exhaled, steam rolling from one hole in the middle of its face.
It turned, its black eyes locking on the unconscious form of Sylas lying in the dirt in the distance. The sigil on his chest still pulsed, but became weaker and weaker before vanishing entirely.
Inside a nearby starship, Finn helped Luis limp into the small medbay.
"You alright?" He asked.
"I'll live." Luis muttered, his voice strained.
"But they…"
Finn followed his gaze as he approached a closed maintenance closet. He knocked twice, then opened the panel.
Two figures emerged, faces pale and eyes wide with fear.
"Lorian! Livia!"
Lorian, the youngest, threw himself into Luis's arms.
"Are you okay big brother?! You're… you're bleeding!" He cried.
Luis winced but smiled, ruffling his hair.
"Don't worry about me. You two alright?"
Livia nodded shakily.
"We hid once we saw that thing appeared out of nowhere."
Finn watched them for a moment before stepping forward, voice sharp.
"Alright, someone needs to explain. What in the stars is that thing? I thought this place had a guardian for the exam. Earlier you said it killed the real one?"
Luis's expression tightened.
"Yeah. When we first arrived with some other teams, I went out to scout ahead… I saw it. The cosmic well and the real guardian."
He paused.
"Then that thing… just rose from underground and ripped it apart."
Finn's brow furrowed.
"Wait… you mean it killed it? Just like that?"
Luis shook his head.
"No… it didn't just kill it…"
He looked Finn dead in the eyes.
"It absorbed it."
Finn's pupils shrank.
"Absor—"
BOOM.
An object tore through the ceiling of the ship before crashing nearby.
After a moment of shock, Finn looked over to see Nara just feet away from them covered in an alien-like seaweed and soaking wet.
"Nara!" He sprinted to her side, falling to his knees.
"Hey! Nara—can you hear me?! What happened?"
She coughed violently as she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
he leaned closer, brushing her wet hair aside.
"What is it?"
"…Be…hind… you…"
Finn's heart stopped.
His eyes widened—just in time to see a massive shadow descend upon them.
BANG!
A fist slammed into him, sending him rocketing through the side of the ship.
Luis, Lorian, and Livia froze as the guardian stood right in front of them, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
It turned its head slowly, its black eyes looking past Luis to his siblings behind him. Luis immediately spread his arms in front of them, his shaky fists clenched and legs wobbling.
The guardian tilted its head curiously.
"…Why?"
Luis blinked.
"Why what?"
"Why do you stand? You feel it, don't you? The fear in your body… don't you?"
Luis's body was trembling. But still… he didn't move. He grit his teeth.
"I don't give a damn how strong you are… or what you are. If I've gotta die standing to protect the ones I love…"
He raised his fists, blue blood dripping from his knuckles.
"…Then so be it."
The guardian was silent for a moment, then its eyes flickered.
"...Love?" It repeated.
It looked down to the ground, seemingly in a deep contemplation.
"Love. Love. Love…"
Luis turned to his siblings.
"Run!"
The two hesitated, then sprinted toward the far corridor.
Luis charged forward, but—
WHAM!
A backhand from the guardian sent him flying into the wall of the ship, his body bouncing off it.
The guardian's obliques on both sides of its body morphed grotesquely, birthing two long arms, grabbing both siblings by the neck mid-run.
"No…! Let them GO!" Luis shouted trying to force himself up.
But the guardian didn't hear him. It just stood there, mumbling the word love again and again while tightening its grip on their throats.
Then—
SLASH!
Both arms fell to the floor, twitching.
Before—
BOOM!
Nara's foot slammed into its torso, sending it hurtling through the same hole she had been blasted through earlier.
Outside the ship, the guardian rose from one knee. Its body hissed with steam as it looked up at Nara who stood there, battered and soaking wet, chest heaving.
The two locked eyes until the guardian's head turned, gazing upward.
Nara looked up and her pupils shrank.
"No..."
Several starships broke through the clouds, descending toward the battlefield.
"TURN BACK! GET AWAY!!" She screamed at the ships as loud as she could… but it was too late.
The guardian vanished in a blur, leaping up before slamming into the lead ship mid-air, tearing through the hull like paper. Explosions ruptured across its frame as pieces of debris rained from the sky. Without hesitation, it launched off the mangled remains and dove into the next ship.
Above, on the licensing station, Ari'Va clutched the edge of her console, her eyes wide in horror as the live feed displayed the carnage.
"M-Ma'am!" She turned to Astra, panic in her voice.
"We can't let this continue! At this rate, there won't be any examinees left! We need to report this to the rangers and send one of your avatars to intervene!"
Astra remained silent.
Her four red eyes remained locked on the screen, watching as another ship burst into flames.
A long moment passed before she finally spoke.
"...Connect me to team grey."
Ari'Va blinked.
"M-Ma'am, I don't think you—"
Astra turned, staring dead into her eyes. That single look from her silenced all further protest.
The projection of Astra flickered into view in front of Kaito, Zeek, Rikona, and Valentina.
"The situation at the third exam site has escalated. If you don't intervene soon... your crewmates will likely die." Astra stated calmly
Kaito's eyes narrowed.
He turned to Zeek.
"You ready?"
Zeek laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ready? Maybe. But this plan you came up with… you're insane in the head dude. You got a death wish or something?"
Kaito smirked.
"Nah, not yet."
He turned to Rikona, who sat beside Valentina.
"You ready?"
Rikona blinked, startled. "
W-What do you mean?"
Kaito folded his arms.
"When I told the exam organizer that I'd defeat the guardian, I said Zeek and Valentina would get their licenses. But I didn't say your name."
She stared at him.
"Because you're coming with me. I can't do any of this without you."
The room fell into stunned silence. Rikona opened her mouth, but no words came. After a short moment, she felt a gentle shove from behind. She turned around.
"Valentina...?"
Despite her horrible state, Valentina smiled weakly.
"You heard round ear. Everyone's counting on you, genius." She smirked.
"Go kick some ass for me, okay?"
Rikona's eyes shimmered,tears nearly falling, but she sucked them up and nodded firmly.
"Yeah."
Valentina turned her attention to Kaito.
"If you actually pull this off… name your reward. I'll owe you big time."
Zeek nodded.
"Same here."
Kaito looked around at all of them silently, then he smiled.
"My dream is to travel the stars and make the universe a place where anyone no matter what they look like or where they're from can live freely and chase their dreams. I want to become the King of the Stars. But… I can't do that alone. And I can't do that as part of the Starlight crew, that's why I need to defeat my captain Elara in a fight."
His expression hardened as he clenched his fists as an image of Aqua unconscious flashed in his head.
"Not only that, I have to keep a promise I made to someone and in order to do that, I need a crew of my own."
He looked at each of them.
"So after these exams... I want all of you to help me. I want all of you to become a part of my crew."
Everyone went completely silent for a long moment before Valentina chuckled.
"You're genuinely fucking crazy, you know that right?"
Kaito grinned and chuckled softly as well.
"Yeah, I guess that's just the round ear in me."
Her eyes locked onto him and a genuine smile crawled up her face.
"As long as I can still chase my own goals, I don't see any issue with it. What about you Zeek?"
Zeek nodded, his pompadour bobbing.
"If you can pull this off, I'll fly you anywhere in the universe you want!"
Kaito nodded before turning to Rikona.
"Ready now?"
She nodded without hesitation this time.
Moments later, both of them stood by the bay door, suited up in their space suits. Rikona secured her blue backpack on her back before she climbed onto his back as her pack began slowly transforming into a cocoon. Kaito adjusted her on his back before he turned back towards Zeek.
"We only got one shot at this so line us up right with the finish line and the exam location okay Z" He said.
Zeek nodded, and they walked into the room, door closing shut behind them. Zeek turned around flipping switches as the ship AI blared to life.
"Target locked. Coordinates set. Weapon system charged."
He smirked.
"Alright, Captain crazy... good luck."
He hit a button before—
BOOOOOM!
The recoil rocked the entire ship.
Far below, Nara's CPI scanner flickered wildly in her eyes, but it wasn't from the guardian or anyone else nearby.
"What the…"
She looked up and her eyes shot wide open.
The once clouded battlefield was now lit up by the glow of the red sun because of a gigantic hole in the clouds above. The guardian sees her attention get drawn elsewhere and looks up, it doesn't see the sky…
It doesn't see anything at all.
Just pitch black.
That's because the bottom of Kaito's feet were mere centimeters from its face
"RADIEN DROP!!!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A ferocious shockwave erupted outward. The entire landscape seemed to sink and warp. Chunks of metal, dirt, and debris shot into the air like bullets.
Nara shielded her face, teeth clenched as the wind ripped past her. Her feet skidded backward across the ground.
When the dust settled, she looked up only to see a silhouette standing in the center of the crater.
She saw a flash of grey hair and red.
"...C-Captain?"
But it wasn't Elara.
As it cleared up, she saw him clearly.
"K-Kaito…!?"