Jenso's fist crashed against a newly formed barrier, leaving stable cracks along its surface. Yzeira looked up at him angrily and conserved his stamina, something he'd long forgotten about. His body was frail. A single strike of that magnitude was more than enough to put him out of commission. But he was still conscious.

Jenso staggered back as his punch was blocked, nearly losing his footing and falling over. But he slowly regained his composure, charging at the red mage again. He launched another rocket punch at his face with his other hand, gritting his teeth furiously as he glared down at Yzeira. He wasn't about to give Yzeira the time to recover.

This time the barrier did not falter. Instead, its cracked healed and it faded from view. Jenso's hand did not reach its target. rather, it faded into a shadow between him and Yzeira that promptly grasped onto his arm and tossed him aside. Yzeira looked up. From the darkness, a slender arm reached out and moved through his barrier as if it weren't there to place its hand against his cheek. Shaidra emerged shortly afterwards, stepping back into reality with her mask completely removed, and blue strands running through her otherwise pitch-black hair.

Jenso stared in shock as Shaidra appeared. Alvios lost? His exhaustion, along with this sheer thought was nearly enough to break him mentally. Was anyone still alive, even? He clenched his fists tightly. He shook the thought off. Now was not the time to think of such things. He stared at the two before him, unsure how to react as of yet. His body was aching all over, wanting nothing more than to rest. But Jenso refused to go down.

Shaidra pulled Yzeira to his feet from the bottom of his chin without restraint until the man stood of his own accord, albeit unsteadily. Then she turned towards Jenso, leaving him to stand on his own.

"I can't believe you've been pushed this far."

"Give me a moment."

"So you can die?" Shaidra began to walk towards Jenso with her hands hanging casually. "I'm going to end this project before that happens."

Jenso glared at Shaidra, and got into a combat stance. Shaidra looked very different. What happened to her? Was this due to Alvios's efforts? Was she weakened as well? None the less, now he had both Yzeira and Shaidra to deal with. Odds didn't look good for Jenso. "Heh...didn't think this is how things would end up." He muttered, keeping a close eye on Shaidra. "But I ain't gonna...go down easy." He said sternly.

"Please. You're basically out of commission already," Shaidra groaned, "Your struggles are about as pointless as this man's musings."

"You've changed."

"So have you." Shaidra began to approach Jenso slightly quicker now with blue energy swirling around her hands. "Your curiosity is dumbfounding. There are much safer ways to conduct an experiment. But you've never been one for safety."

"What did that man do to you." Yzeira looked towards Jenso, slowly steadying himself despite the pain that ran through his body in waves.

Jenso glared at Alexis as she approached, and was surprised. Yzeira seemed confused as well. What did Alvios do to her? Her attitude was completely different. "You look like you've been turned back to normal, Alexis." Jenso mumbled. He began to force some of his remaining energy to his right hand, albeit slowly. If he was going to die anyway, he intended to go down fighting.

"An astute observation for an idiot." She barked, "As always, you've let your emotions control you, my dear colleague. Funny that your reaction to my consciousness re-emerging is one so lacking." She turned back to Yzeira and smiled. "All that I've been faced with is likely the work of Nexus. A shame. I would have rather remained that disruptive little beast than be met with your failures at a time like this. You disappoint me."

"I..." He had no words for her. One of his hand reached up to peel what remained of his mask from his face. The tattoo beneath his left eye was vivid, and pulsating with unstable energy.

"Without any tethers, that little seal is fairly worthless, isn't it?" She did the same with her own mask fragments, and revealed her face to him. It hadn't changed in the slightest. She had no tattoo controlling her like the others. It felt like the opposite, like she had been controlling him. "I told you that the soul is not easily understood. Any study into it would be inviting danger. The void is not meant to be understood. Its ever changing composition brings chaos to any and all research." Alexis turned back to Jenso and rose one hand. "You're the only thing I can remember. You and this boy."

"You sure seem prideful despite the fact that you've been crawling on the floor like a void-infused dog for thousands of years." Jenso mocked with a smirk. He wasn't about to defend Yzeira's case right now, but he wasn't going to just stand here and listen to Alexis's speech. He glanced at the tattoo that was revealed on Yzeira's face. Right, the tattoo. He'd forgotten all about it after the intense fighting that he'd been doing. "This whole mess started because Teshra delved into something he shouldn't have. Void. If you and Nexus stayed with him and kept an eye on him, this could've all been prevented and countless people's lives might not have been lost. Despite all the terrible things Yzeira has done, you and Nexus are both to blame as well. At least Nexus admitted to his wrongdoings, and tried to make amends." Jenso stated. He kept charging up energy towards his right hand, and began to walk over to Alexis.

"We weren't his babysitters. If you want to blame somebody, blame his parents." Shaidra's form faded and reappeared in front of Jenso. "I have no more words to waste on you." With a void-infused kick, she sent Jenso flying into the sky above, rapidly hurtling for the barrier that separated him from a cold death in space. She flew back down to Yzeira's side and crossed her arms. "You have no energy left that wouldn't be drawing upon the force that keeps you alive. This little game is over."

"How about, no?"

Jenso's body was stopped mid-air before it reached the precipice of the tower's pocket dimension. He felt two hands wrap underneath his arms and hold him in place as wind swept across his body. Jeff had returned, and made his way up the side of the tower.

"That wind boy... How did he breach the-"

"The fabric of your tower's dimensional wall? I had a little help from a buddy of mine who's been collecting Data throughout this whole fight!" Jeff slowly lowered Jenso back to the ground and floated behind him. A small, blue, amorphous blob popped out from behind his coat and extended a little hand. "Looks like you're screwed now, ginger-boy!" Blup divided himself, and launched a copy of his body onto Jenso's shoulder.

"I was able to reconstruct myself after Ada was defeated! B.L.U.P. 2.0 functioning at 200% capacity! Data on the Order's abilities has been fully analyzed!" the little blob's voice echoed in Jenso's mind. "Psychic relay is a new feature as well, Blup!" Shaidra pouted and turned to Yzeira. He looked down at her painfully before reassuring his stance.

"I understand," Yzeira groaned. His hair returned to its normal color, and his energy began to well upon. He pointed at Jeff, forming a sphere of energy around him. "I'm sorry, Alexis."

"Oh, uh oh."

Fwish! A stream of white slashed through the bubble around Jeff, and it suddenly vanished into pieces.

"I mean, uh-oh is what I would have said if I hadn't already constructed a sword to counteract your stupid bullshit!" He rubbed his nose with one finger and smiled. "But I couldn't wield it with my Ki type. Fortunately, we have just the guy with enough Ki to power it effectively!" Above Jeff, the blur that freed him faded into view from above. It was Bruce, riding on Jeff's wind-board.

"Those Nano-bots work quickly."

"Your incompetence knows no bounds, Teshra."

"..."

Jenso glanced over at Bruce and Jeff and smiled. 'What took you guys so long? You're late!' He jokingly said. He glared over at Yzeira and Shaidra and got into a combat stance despite the pain he felt. "Alright, let's wrap this up." He stated confidently, advancing towards his enemy. 'I don't have much energy left, so let's make this count, okay?' He said to his allies. His blue glowing eyes were flickering back to his normal state every now and then, but Jenso did his best to keep the flow of energy going. Despite not exactly knowing what it was, he'd gotten a good feel of it.

He slapped his right hand into the ground as he moved with the energy he'd been charging, creating a barrier of sorts that followed him around, which was intended to protect himself from Yzeira's attacks and to avoid Shaidra from teleporting close.

"I'll look for an opening. This sword is our best chance at victory," Bruce thought, grasping the handle of his newly crafted blade tightly. His ki flowed through it with near-perfect control, matching the blade's shape to grant it the ability to cut through Yzeira's Void-empowered meta energy. "The energy it creates is meta energy. As long as he does not dodge, it should slice through his barrier like butter. But those eyes of his... I don't think I'll get a chance to get in close unless we find a way to counteract his power." Yzeira narrowed his eyes and glared at the brilliant blue sword that the ronin held.

"Oz- I mean, Zios, is on standby. But I think they know that already. He has his own brand of Meta energy as well, and might be able to take a few hits without much trouble. We also have a fusion on our side. But I don't know how long me and Bruce would be able to hold it. It fell apart after we defeated the chaos twins. Dacer is back on the planet's surface, and Alvios is..." Jeff stopped his thought and shook the idea that his comrade was gone out of his mind. He glared at Shaidra. "Blup has no Data on her. Yzeira is difficult enough to deal with. Both both of them at once?" He looked at Yzeira afterwards and sighed.

"Multiple physical injuries detected, blup! Yzeira cannot move very much right now! But his energy seems even stronger than it was before! Power supply and raw stamina might be limitless! The longer we fight, the worse this will be for our odds at victory, blup blup!"

"Let's forget about your failures. This is the first chance we've had to work together in millennia." Yzeira looked down at Alexis from behind. She turned to him and smiled. "While not exactly what I expected, it makes me happy. Especially after so many years trapped in darkness."

"..."

'Calculating plan of attack...'

"Stall for time. We're only going to get one shot at this."

"It's as Jenso says. Let's make it count.

'Gotcha. I'll try to stall for time, and try to keep Shaidra busy. She definitely has the most mobility out of both of 'em, especially since Yzeira shouldn't be able to move.' He told his friends, and glared at Shaidra. "If you're so clever and amazing, why don't ya prove it?" He taunted her, launching a focused bolt of erratic blue electricity her way from the palm of his left hand as he closed in on her. He made sure to keep his barrier around his own body.

As the bolt neared her, her body began to dissipate around where the attack would have struck. It shot through her, and was absorbed by a small orb of red energy in front of Yzeira afterwards.

"I think all traces of that beast have left my body. Combat has never been my strong suit. But I always spent my life defending each and every last principal that I held dear from ignorant savages like you. That part of my hasn't changed." A flash of light sparked in Yzeira's eyes. "As always, I'll try my best-"

"And I will support you every step of the way.

Power began to well up quickly from the pits of Yzeira's very soul until it enveloped his entire body from head to toe. He couldn't move an inch from where he stood, but with so much energy, he wouldn't need to. Alexis turned back to Jenso and offered him a soft smile. It was one of pity and sadness.

"No more lying, no more dishonesty, no more chaos, I will fight tried and true from this point on."

Energy began to gather around Jenso, Jeff, and Bruce like an aura, blurring their vision and seeping into their Ki like a viscous poison. Their blood began to feel thicker, and the seconds pulled away at their stamina incredibly fast. Bruce dashed through both of his allies and slashed at the energy, but it only continued to gather around them. He was the only one that could resist it continually. Eventually, the air itself was thicker than smoke. Crimson energy flooded the battlefield, and put a continual drain on any who could not harness the void, or Meta energy.



"He could do something like this!?"

"Even with the sword I can feel my energy getting sapped away. We can't stall for time like this."

'Calculations not complete. I need ten more seconds, blup! Take his attention away from the aura as much as you can!'

Shaidra's body appeared in front of Jenso moments after. She stood in front of him with a smile and one hand raised in front of his face. "That's the man I remember. Such soul." From her hand, a flash of blue light shot forwards towards Jenso's heart.

Jenso glared at Alexis, pivoting his body sideways to the right to avoid the bolt. 'Understood, I'll do what I can!' He replied to his allies. "Nexus told me something." He said to Alexis, dashing around her and Yzeira and away from Alexis's attack. He moved until he was right up near Yzeira's face, albeit still outside of the aura enveloping him. "That the man known as Teshra no longer exists." He spoke calmly and coldly.

"By that logic, I suppose that I'm also a figment of your collective imagination? Hah!" The blue energy stopped behind Jenso and turned into an orb before exploding with a great deal of force. Yzeira, from afar began to launch volleys of energy at both Jeff and Bruce. Jeff activated his one-with-wind transformation and bolted out of the way, while Bruce used his windboard to do the same.

Jeff's body appeared behind Yzeira and he stabbed towards his back. "A little slow, aren't-" He weapon snapped against the man's barrier and the chaotic energy began to climb his arm. Jeff was forced to eject his gauntlet as it faded away to nothingness. "Oh. Well. Crud." Bruce appeared in front of him and swung his anti-void blade at the man's shield, but stopped half-way through his swing as a spike of red energy nearly pierced his heart. He retreated as several more spike appeared out of thin air in an attempt to skewer him.

"He's too fast. Even if I were to sacrifice myself, I don't think I'll be able to get a clean hit in. Without my Ki, this blade is nothing more than a length of cold steel."

"I must stop falling into the trap of my own hubris," Yzeira Muttered. Suddenly Jeff's right gauntlet was destroyed by a random explosion of energy that had been gathering in his arm.

'Blup! Keep your focus high! If Yzeira's energy gathers in one of your limbs for long enough unnoticed...'

As the explosion faded, Jeff's right arm was revealed to be completely gone.

'...It can be lethal!'

"Otherwise my aim will always be off its mark."

'Focus your ki to stave off his more focused energy!'

Crimson power began to gather in both Jenso's left leg and his right shoulder. Bruce felt it in his head, but surged his ki upwards to expel it before it could explode.

"All this while he's maintaining this field and launching off tangible attacks. This is impossible."

"I may have been much more reasonable than him, but Teshra has always had a more brilliant mind than I or Nexus. My biggest regret was not acknowledging it back then..." Alexis rose both hand and launched a wave of smokey black mist at Jenso from his front.

'5 more seconds!'

Jenso gave a small, nasty smirk at Alexis as he heard the orb explode behind him. "Not everything is what it seems." He mumbled. He lowered his body closer towards the ground, and a flame whip emerged from his right leg which dug one of it's ends into the ground and the rest wrapped around his leg, to hold the man in place to brace against the incoming force from behind. He focused the barrier he'd made around himself onto his left leg and right shoulder, in an attempt to disperse and expell the energy that was latching onto him into an explosive display of blue energy.

He couldn't respond in time to avoid Shaidra's mist, but launched a blue spear at Yzeira's head. 'Don't give up...we can do this!' He told his friends.