After an unknown amount of time, Lakshman’s consciousness awakened, and he gently opened his eyes to find that he was facing a familiar looking ceiling. He felt his body was aching all over for some reason, which made him wonder what had happened. The last thing he remembered was maxing out his energy when he fired his signature attack against the destructive wave fired from the alien ship’s main cannon.

“What the heck happened after that?” He wondered to himself.

He was sure he was out cold from pushing all of his energy into one attack all at once, causing him to exhaust himself. It was like running a thousand kilometres in a split second, burning oneself out and losing consciousness. As such, he had absolutely no idea what happened, or the amount of time that had passed between him passing out and waking up again.

Sensing someone close by, he turned and saw the figure of a girl resting her head on his bed while seated next to him. One glance told her it was Raze, and she appeared to be fast asleep judging from her posture. It made him wonder why she was there, and whether the battle with the aliens was ongoing or not.

“Asura, how long was I out for?”

“For a few hours.”

“Few hours?! Damn! I need to get out and—!”

“There’s no need to do anything. We’ve already won our battle.”

“Huh? Really? We won? Are you sure.”

“I am positive, otherwise, why would this woman be here to check on you?”

“Good point,” thought Lakshman, remembering that Raze was like an aide to the royal siblings.

As he turned to smile at her, Raze apparently felt the disturbance in her surroundings, making her wake up. She sat up straight and seemed to stare into space for a few seconds before realising where she was. When she turned to look at him, she recoiled in shock to see him up and sitting with a friendly smile on his face.

“Ah! Asura! You’re awake! Thank goodness!” She said, sounding relieved while a smile formed behind her mask. “We were starting to get worried when you suddenly collapsed and didn’t wake up.”

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment before he said, “I guess I pushed myself a little much all at once and burnt myself out. Sorry for the trouble I caused you.”

“Oh no! Not at all!” She replied immediately, looking intently at him through her mask. “It’s thanks to your efforts that we managed to defeat the aliens! After all, you took out their entire army, defeated their boss and even stopped an enormous explosion that could’ve destroyed our city!”

Lakshman continued to smile in embarrassment when he finally digested the contents of her statement. His smile slowly faded as he was confused and made him ask her in bewildered voice.

“What?”

“You magnificently wiped out the aliens and were key in saving our city from destruction!” She said in a delighted voice.

While he could not see the expression on her face, he could imagine the happiness she was experiencing. He, however, did not bask in that same happiness. Instead, he was confused because all he knew was stopping one massive wave of destruction from destroying the academy and them with it. So, the extra details of her contents made him feel rather confused as to how that could have happened.

It did not take him long to realise the obvious, and he asked in his mind, “Asura, what did you do?” When he was greeted with silence, he grew in irritation and asked again, “Asura…! What. Did. You. Do?”

Finally, unable to avoid any response, Asura replied in his mind, “I… guess I did something. It’s not my fault, though. It’s those alien’s fault for making me move.”

“I’m not asking for why you did it, I’m asking for what you did when you went out,” said Lakshman in his mind in a serious voice.

There was a pause before Asura began explaining everything that had occurred after he was knocked out. Lakshman was amazed upon finding that he did his best to not cause too much damage considering the ruthless nature of his past self. It did surprise him to learn that the Zeklock Hero, Natsu, actually possessed the ability to nullify all elemental natures.

“So that guy was the one who saved the day, not you for once,” said Asura with a light chuckle.

“Whatever. I don’t fight for glory, and I am pleased that someone else had it in them to stand up and stop it with the rest of us being powerless,” replied Lakshman in a pleasant voice.

“Powerless? Me?” Asura asked, chuckling once again. “Lakshman, If I wasn’t so badly injured, I could’ve stopped that thing using Maga Distrab! You know that!”

“And yet, you weren’t able to,” stated Lakshman in a firm voice, making Asura sigh. “Let’s face it, Asura. It’s thanks to him and his ability, we survived. No doubt about it.”

Asura sighed once more and did not say anything. At that moment, Lakshman’s attention was diverted when Raze asked him, “Um? Is something the matter?”

“Whoa!” He exclaimed, completely forgetting that she was still there with him. “S-Sorry. I was just thinking about all that’s happened.”

“It’s okay. I was just wondering why you had such a serious look on your face,” she said lightly.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

He smiled and asked, “Thank you for your concern. So, it’s just me here then?”

“You’re not alone bro,” said a familiar voice that belonged to the Sonic Hero.

“Quiet down! I’m trying to sleep!” Another familiar voice that belonged to the Tempest Hero said in a sharp voice.

As Lakshman looked to his left in surprise, Raze clapped her hands together and said the command, “Open.”

In an instant, the cubical around him started to slowly retract into itself until he was in the open. On his left, there were several beds and lying atop of them were Gram, Vikram, Natsu and Fred. The remainder of the Nine Heroes of Legends, who were Martin, Maxwell, Ward and William sat on chairs near them. Seeing the cubical open, they turned and looked in Lakshman’s direction. He also noticed that the doctor was checking up on each of them to make sure they were fully healed.

“How are you feeling, bro?” Vikram asked him.

Lakshman was puzzled by the word and said, “My name’s not ‘bro’. My name is Asura.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Vikram exclaimed, shocked at the statement he heard. “Bro is the short form to mean ‘brother’ dude! Get a hint!”

“Oh…!” Lakshman said, finally realising the connection and smiling. “Yeah. I’m fine, Vikram. How about you?”

“I’m g-r-e-a-t if it weren’t for the fact that I’m stuck in this bed!” Vikram complained in a severe voice. He turned to the doctor and said, “Doc, I’m dying of boredom! Let me leave already!”

“No can do,” the doctor said, resolutely denying his request. “Your legs aren’t at 100-percent.”

Getting annoyed, Vikram pointed at his feet and said, “Doc, it’s a hero’s duty to exert himself to do great thing!”

“Yes, and it’s my duty to make sure reckless heroes, such as yourselves, are fully healed before you walk out of here,” replied the doctor in a stern voice. “Now, stay silent or I’m going to be forced to seal your mouth for you.”

With that, he shot a glare at Vikram, and it was so powerful that it made Vikram go silent. Still, the Sonic Hero breathed a deep sigh in resignation and slumped down on his bed while wearing a disgruntled expression on his face. Lakshman was surprised that four of the hero members were in the hospital while the others seemed to be sitting and reading small books with different covers on the book front. As it appeared, they were in the hospital room inside the castle.

“Really. One with leg problems, one with hand problems, one with muscle problems, and one with energy problems. Really. What did I do to deserve to watch over such strange injuries?” The doctor muttered, looking tired.

“Sorry,” said Fred in an apologetic voice. “I know I probably shouldn’t have increased the size of my shield to the size of a building, but I had to do it in order to protect us and the shelter the people were residing in.”

“Why should I apologise? I overstressed my legs when I ran to fight the monsters and am in this state,” said Vikram, looking annoyed.

“I… I’m not fully accustomed to using my full powers in this world yet,” stated Gram curtly.

“Are you a child?! What sort of lame excuse is that?!” Vikram demanded.

“Shut up, idiot,” Gram snapped. “I don’t need to be told that from an idiot that runs uselessly around and hurts themselves in the process!”

“Look who’s talking! You wore yourself out by pointlessly exerting your energy without any self-control!”

“You really need to learn to shut your mouth.”

“And you should learn some manners!”

“I will show you manners!” Gram said, getting angry enough to summon his Silver Sword.

“Want to try?” Vikram said energetically, trying to sit upright.

As the two were on the verge of fighting, the doctor calmly walked in between their beds while pressing buttons on his Magic Enhanced Device. In an instant, a magic circle appeared beneath each of the beds that Gram and Vikram laid upon before steel chains burst out of them. They flew through the air, quickly wrapped themselves around their victims before forcing them back down on the bed. Both men grunted in pain as the chains pinned them to the bed and made sure they would not move.

Before anything else could happen, the doctor quickly pressed the buttons on his Magic Enhanced Device. A magic circle materialised to hover above them both and started to glow dimly with purple light. For a few seconds, the two warriors put up a valiant struggle before they suddenly went weak and did not struggle anymore.

“Damn… I feel so… tired…” muttered Vikram weakly before he slowly lost consciousness.

Gram did not even speak, as he lay there with his eyelids slowly closing as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

The doctor sighed and said, “This is why I don’t like taking care of hot headed kids!”

“W-What did you do to them, doctor?” Natsu asked curiously, amazed at how quickly those two were taken down.

“Chain Down and Mana Down. Basically, tying them down and making them lose all their energy,” the doctor said, giving his explanation in a dull voice. Then he stretched his arms and said, “Man, it’s always a pain to use those techniques, but duty calls.”

“Wow… That was cool, sir,” commented Fred in amazement.

The doctor looked at him, amused by the unexpected compliment he received, and smiled slightly and said, “Make sure to get rested well and leave fully healed so that I can catch some break.”

“Yes, sir!” Fred replied confidently before wincing from the pain he felt in his muscles.

The doctor nodded and moved onto checking Natsu, whose right hand was heavily bandaged. The conversation between the doctor and the hero was normal, with the doctor checking his patient’s condition before declaring that his injury still needed time to heal. Natsu was unperturbed, stating that it was something he had chosen to do and must face the consequences as a result of his recklessness.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You did save us with your move, so feel proud,” the doctor said before finally moving onto Lakshman. “So, Asura, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling rather bored to be honest,” Asura replied scathingly in Lakshman’s mind.

Lakshman ignored his past self’s comment and said to the doctor, “I’m feeling fine, doctor, although my body hurts a bit.”

“Naturally it would since you’ve had several broken bones, broken ribs and lost a lot of blood. I must admit, I’m surprised you’re still breathing from the damage shown on your report,” said the doctor with an expressionless face.

“Sir!” Raze said, suddenly flaring up at the doctor, rising to her feet and facing him while an angry aura emitted from her. “I would appreciate it if you keep such statements to yourself! It is no way helpful to the victim to hear a doctor say such a thing about them! Would you feel happy to hear that statement if you were in a similar position?”

The doctor looked down at the young girl, staring silently down at her for a few seconds, and then he sighed and said, “Right. My bad. I got carried away.” He turned towards Lakshman and said with an apologetic voice, “I’m sorry, Asura. Just ignore my previous comment. I was tired and didn’t really think before talking.”

“I think I’d appreciate it if you start focusing on thinking before acting,” said a familiar voice from the doorway. They turned and saw Alistor standing at the entrance, smiling serenely at them all.

The doctor looked stricken at the sight of the man and looked disgruntled, almost to the point of being disturbed.

“H-H-Hello, s-sir. I-I didn’t know you were t-t-there,” the doctor stammered, looking nervous.

“You never did, and why would you when you never cared about anything but yourself?” Alistor asked, a glint in his eyes that shone like the sharp end of a blade that was about to strike. As the doctor reeled back from the shock, Alistor entered the room and declared, “Anyway, I didn’t come here to complain about you. I came to speak to the heroes.”

Raze moved forward and asked, “Alistor, sir, I think it’s best that you wait for them to heal before speaking to them. Half of the heroes are injured and need some time to recover.”

Alistor looked down at her and said in a calm voice, “I’m aware of it, however, the matter I wish to discuss cannot wait. It’s urgent.”

As Raze, and everyone else looked at him in surprise, he continued speaking with a serious look on his face.

“The matter is to discuss the actions of the heroes, rewards for their deeds and possibly receiving punishment.”