It felt like ten minutes had passed until the group landed at a recycling site. The monster looked around, spotted a few workers, and growled. The workers ran from the dangerous beast. A moment later, the Radiant landed in front of it. The monster nodded and growled at them before spreading its arms apart and whirling around before it pointed its cannon at them.

"Huh, you might be right about wanting no distractions." said the fire warrior.

"Hmm." The warrior in white gazed at her new surroundings. "This is better than a landfill, but still messy."

"Toughen up." The warrior in gray raised his fists, then threw a few light jabs. "I'm sure we will all get into messy circumstances."

"Yes, unfortunately."

The monster dropped both arms and bowed to them, surprising the group. Blaze and Aero seemed to have understood.

"But... why?" Aero raised a brow. "Does it respect us?"

"What?" asked Aqua.

"Gang," Blaze stood straight up. "Before a fight, martial artists bow before their opponent as a sign of acknowledgment and respect. So... we do it too... please."

He bowed briefly. The group turned to each other for a moment before bowing awkwardly. The monster nodded and grunted.

"Yep, this is what he wants." The lightning warrior declared. "He led us here to fight with no distractions. He wants our attention on him and not worry about saving others."

"Great, because he's going to attack." Lumina pointed out.

The monster aimed its cannon and fired a beam. The group scattered before it struck and exploded. Lumina and Frost moved to either side of the creature to strike, but the beast leaped before they hit. The girls collided with each other and fell. The monster aimed at them, but Aero's Gust Buster knocked it out of the air while damaging it. The beast growled and fired shots from the cannon at the instigator. The wind warrior moved away before getting hit, but the monster shot at where the warrior would be. The blast hit the warrior and knocked him away.

As soon as the monster landed, the warriors in yellow and blue ran at him with punches and kicks at the beast, who tried blocking with its cannon and punching with its other arm. Blaze jumped in and aimed a Blazing Fist at the beast. The monster jumped back and fired at the duo, sending them back. It receded into its shell; the hardened exterior took the brunt of the adroit, forcing it to move a few feet.

The fire warrior grunted. "Great, I didn't make a dent."

"Would any of our other adroit work?" questioned the lightning warrior as he sat up from the floor

"We can't let it enter its shell." spoke the ice woman.

The wind man said while looking singed. "So, we have to not let it retract itself."

The beast popped out of the shell with vigor. He snorted at the Radiant, then charged forward and fired multiple shots at them. The group barely evaded the shots as they struck where they were and exploded. Frost grabbed Bolt and pulled him back from getting hit. He pointed up, and she tossed him. As he rose in the air, he gathered his power for Lightning Strike. He launched it at the beast. One of the shots collided and exploded. The monster covered its eyes from bright light and shockwave. Its eyes widened when Lumina and Aqua unleashed their adroit.

The monster maneuvered away from two adroits, then shot at them. The girls barely moved away from the close-up shot but were unfortunate to be smacked away with a backhanding strike with its actual arm. Aero jumped in and delivered a few jabs to the face before finishing with a right hook. The cannon wielder quickly smacked him away and into a pile of boxes.

The monster stepped forward, only to slip on the ice. Somehow, the girl in white managed to get ice on the ground without it noticing. Clever, but not worth the effort. The monster receded, spun, and shot toward her. Frost squeaked as she was hit and flew into bottles. Bolt stood up and raced forward. He gathered power into his hand and tried to go for a lightning strike. However, he stopped and then concentrated on letting the lightning bolt flow into his fist. He saw Blaze standing beside the monster with arms stretched forward and open-palmed.

"Blazing Shot!"

He unleashed a ball of fire at the creature, where it struck. It staggered sideways, feeling the pain from that fire. Bolt smirked and jumped in the air, raised his arms in the air, and clasped his hands overhead as electricity cracked. He brought them down.

"Electric Hammer!"

He slammed his fist on the cannon, putting a lot of power into it. He was pushed back as the cannon exploded, causing further damage to the monster. Aqua and Lumina caught the electric teen before he was sent to a pile of plastic.

"Wow!" Lumina cheered. "I know Blaze finished his adroit, but you Bolt?"

"Huh, so you managed it?" Aqua smirked. "Almost put the finishing touches to mine."

"I am working on mine." Frost brushed herself off. "Freezing them in place is good, but I need something hard-hitting."

"So... is it over?" Aero walked forward.

The beast grunted as it fell on its knees. Its weapon was destroyed. It stared at the teens with no hate, but with respect. Blaze looked on with confusion. The beast grunted and bowed. The fire warrior raised his eyebrow. "Uh... I think the battle is finished."

"So... it wants to stop?" The blue warrior narrowed her eyes. "Should we bring it in and let Guardian deal with it?"

"Hm..." The gray warrior frowned. "On one hand, we arrest it, but if we leave it here... will it go out killing?"

"Or be our rival." smirked the electric teen.

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"A rival?" the light woman said. "For us?"

"It's defeated and weak." The white warrior crossed her arms. "Well, Blaze? What do you think? I think having a rival like this would be a constant nuisance, and what if that harlot tampers with it."

The monster's eyes widened as if something important had come up. It took its one free hand and started drawing in the dirt.

"What's it saying?" asked the light warrior.

"Uh..." The fire warrior walked forward carefully as he looked at the dirt. "The... Mistress... is.. "

"Enough!"

Out of nowhere, an umbrella stabbed it in the hand, causing it to scream in pain. The umbrella started glowing violently red, then shot up and pierced its skull. This action shocked the group. The monster stood in place before it exploded into dust. Standing behind the beast, as if being revealed in a dramatic moment, was Mistress M., looking proud. She gazed at the group as the umbrella whirled around. However, they also noticed she was holding the same umbrella that was floating around.

"Mistress M!" growled Blaze as he stood ready. "Why?"

She frowned. "Because it chose to give up instead of fighting, so I gave it death." The umbrella vanished from their eyes. "I sent my umbrella to finish it while my essence appears before you." She smirked. "Bye, bye." she waved as she vanished from their eyes.

The group remained tensed for a moment, expecting her to pop up. After a minute went by, they lowered their guard.

The ice woman stomped her foot. "She is an annoying cur. She is trying to dig under our skin!"

"I share the same sentiment." sighed the light woman. "But we can't let her affect us like that."

"Maggie killed it. She did not bother to take it and change it." Bolt lamented as he stared at the spot where the monster stood. "I know it could kill people, but this thing had some... honor or something in it. You saw it?"

"Maybe." Blaze looked back at him. "It was trying to tell us something." He looked down at the dirt. "We will never know."

"We might find out." frowned the water warrior. "I feel like we'll confront her soon."

"Then we have to get ready for that." the wind warrior nodded.

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"Even if it did disobey me."

Mistress M was seen holding another ball of rage energy. This time, it was three feet bigger than the last one.

"I am almost there." She giggled, but her mouth lowered to the opposite of a smile. "However, if my next monster acts like that, I need to change tactics. They might realize the truth. Good thing people these days congregate to enjoy activities."

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-The Hub-

The gang retired to the Hub, where they relayed their battle info to the Sword Unit leader. After relaying the information, they sat around the Living Quarters, still wearing their swimwear. They wondered if they should go back to Tanya's house to swim. Ryu looked mellow and sad after the fight. The gossip girl got up and walked over to see if she could cheer him up.

"Ryu." Christina sat next to him on the couch. "Is it about the monster or something else?"

He gazed at the others sitting on the furniture. "I read too many comic books and watch a lot of movies. The idea that we have powers and fight monsters is cool. Traveling to Galvania in the near future is unbelievable." He sighed. "I guess I expected certain things like having rivals could make things interesting. Someone to compete with and get stronger to overcome." He lowered his head. "As for the monster, when I saw that look and how it wanted a fight with no distractions. I thought, 'Yes, a rival.'"

"But..." The water woman grimaced. "What if we killed it?"

"Yeah... but some part of me wanted to let it go, and maybe it will return for a rematch. Heh, maybe that stupid."

She sighed. "Maybe."

Ryu snorted. "You are usually honest. Just because I'm down, you cannot criticize me?"

"Fine, it was stupid."

"Mmm?" Tanya grumbled while filing her nails. "The harlot made us look bad. She killed a monster that disobeyed her, or so she says. It was more sentient than the others." She scoffed. "She sounded like a braggart even after she killed her monster. Isn't she gathering rage energy?"

"She is." Sam's eyes widened. "But... what happens to the energy? We killed the monsters, but... what happens after?"

"I thought the energy would disappear after we defeated them," spoke Amy. "Or go back to where it came from."

"Does it?" Jake asked. "The monsters are made up of rage energy. When she first appeared, it came from one person. Now she is drawing them in through things all at once."

The red-head closed his eyes. "Maybe killing them sends the energy to her."

A bad feeling came over them. If that was true, then they were helping her fulfill her plan.

"Are you all thinking what I am thinking?" The wind warrior said monotone.

"That killing them is helping her? No wonder she sounds so confident." The water warrior groaned.

"We are pawns." growled the ice warrior. "It ills me."

"I do not want to believe it." The light warrior lowered her head. "Maybe it's not true."

"We can't assume that it isn't." The fire warrior replied.

"Man..." The lightning warrior sat up. "If she is, then we need to figure out how not to send it to her, right?"

"Right."

The others looked up to see Javo standing before them. "After what happened at the Street Racing, we thought about the possibility. We asked someone back home to research how to convert rage energy into something else."

"You can do that?"

"We can try, but there is also another thing. I want you all to head to Salem."

Jake's eyes widened in panic. "Is Tina okay?"

"She's fine, but I think you should see... and feel the aftermath of the fight back then."

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-Town of Salem-

The group materialized in the woods, and instantly, they felt that familiar feeling.

"Woah!" shouted Ryu. "That hit me like a highspeed dodge ball. Wow!"

Amy grabbed herself as she shivered. She looked toward Jake. "This feels awful. It's like I am feeling all this anger."

"This is bad," Jake whispered and then eyed some tiny red sparks lingering around. "It's still lingering to this day?"

"Could Parkerville be like this?" Sam spotted a small rage spark float by him. "Looking at these specs and having this anger linger in the air."

"Awful." Tanya whimpered. "This feels awful."

"Yeah." Christina clenched her fist. "This feels not right."

"You feel it too?"

Their attention now turned to their younger sister approaching them.

"Tina!" Jake walked forward. "You don't feel that?"

"No, Reinstar said those with more mana can feel the forces collide... or so she says."

"Yeah, we felt this slap of an angry goat." chuckled the lightning warrior. "But... is this why we are here? To feel the rage of the world?"

"You joke, but there is something else. come."

The group followed the young girl to a large clearing where a bunch of trees were cut and a large hole in the ground. They spotted the shinobi staring into the hole while firmly holding her katana. She was guarded, ready for battle. She snapped her head to them, expecting a fight, but calmed upon seeing their faces. "Don't sneak up on me."

"We did not." spoke Tanya. "But... do you feel uncomfortable?"

"This whole town has not been cleaned of the rage residue. I don't know what happened here, but the Radiant of Fire, Light, and Space did not fully decontaminate the town." She grumbled. "Idiots."

"And the hole?" questioned the fire warrior.

"A construction crew was here to build a tech company." Tina informed them. "They discovered something that made them call the archaeologist group."

"Do you know what they found?" questioned the light warrior

"Don't know, but I will find out. I need to follow the trail; it might lead to somewhere in Parkerville."

"You think whatever she was sealed in is in our city?" Ryu's eyes widened. "I thought she randomly chose the town. That solves my question."

"Ditto." Amy said.

"Me too." Jake said.

Sam chuckled while Tanya awkwardly looked away. Christina sighed. "You all did not think why she came to Parkerville and just assumed.

"Anyway," The ninja walked away from the hole. "Now that you feel what could possibly happen if we let this woman get away with it. How do you feel?"

"Anticipating the showdown with Mackenzie." The electric teen smiled.

"We have to cleanse the rage somehow." said the light warrior.

"Miss Harlot will be dealt with." The cold woman nodded.

"I'm ready to roll." The wind warrior declared.

"She needs to be stopped." declared the water warrior.

"Sooner or later." said the fire warrior. "We will stop her."