Tendo stood at the entrance of the Heartland underground waterway with Wilt standing by his side. He was making sure to protect the Florian with his body. Meanwhile, Kay, Trixta, and Xan were watching Tendo’s arrival with surprise, with the exception of Kay, who was delighted to see his old friend.

“Tendo!” Kay shouted happily. “Can’t believe ya found us!”

“Kay!” Tendo waved at the Fenger. “Great to see you again, but let’s catch up after these guys have been dealt with.”

“Hey, you’re with Sentinel, yeah?” a Girasol Gang member approached Tendo. “We got business here! We even got warrants!”

The gang members showed a paper that was signed by a high-level Sentinel officer. He showed the paper to Tendo, stretching his arm out so that he could read it. To his horror, the paper immediately burst in flames, making him squeal.

“Gya!” the Girasol Gang member threw the burning paper to the ground. “You prick!”

“What the hell?!” another member shouted. “This guy’s a Caster too!”

“I don’t care what paper some crook on the force made up for you,” Tendo pointed at the burning paper and then at the gang members. “What I am seeing here is a bunch of thugs attacking innocents. So I’m bringing you down.”

“Screw this guy!” a third member shouted. “Bring him down and get the Florian now!”

The Girasol Gang got organized. Some of them rallied up to charge at Tendo so that they could capture Wilt. The others targeted Kay, Trixta, and Xan to ensure that they weren’t going to get in the way.

“I got this!” Kay grinned at Trixta and Xan before moving into action.

POW!

Kay leapt in and struck the closest gang member in the face with a superman punch. As soon as he landed, a second attacker threw a punch at him. Kay blocked the punch with the palm of one hand and used the other hand to punch him on the face. He followed the punch by performing a spin kick, striking the jaw of another attacker who intended to hit him from behind.

He saw more thugs rushing at him. Kay charged at them, but not directly. He ran to the wall next to him. Then he jumped off from the wall and spun his body around to perform a spinning kick that knocked down three thugs down in a single blow.

The moment he landed, Kay blocked an incoming strike from a metal pipe, causing it to bend from the block. He then delivered a right hook to the jaw of his armed attacker, knocking him down.

Meanwhile, some thugs with swords charged after Xan and Trixta. Feeling that Trixta couldn’t handle the gang members, Zan stood in front of the vixen to defend her.

“Get back!” Zan ordered Trixta as he prepared to fight.

Zan easily dodged the sword swipes of the first thug who attacked him. He then struck the attacker’s wrist with his elbow to knock the sword out of his hand. With blinding speed, Xan picked up the sword before it landed on the ground and readied himself.

CLANG!

Another attacker tried to slash at Xan with his sword. He just blocked the strike, kick him down to the ground, and acquired a second sword that he caught in midair.

“Alright,” Xan smiled as he felt the weigh of two swords in his hands. “Much better.”

Xan immediately blocked two oncoming attacks from other sword-wielding gang members. The two gangsters showed synchronicity by attacking Xan simultaneously, but Xan casually block their attacks with both swords.

“Nice try!” Xan grinned at them.

He pushed them away with a powerful slash, launching both of his attackers across the waterway.

Meanwhile, Tendo was swiftly dodging the gang members, which he then punched back with flame-coated fists. He then knocked down another thug who attacked him from behind with a back kick. Feeling invigorated, he slammed his fist on the ground, he created a pillar of flames that made some gang members fly in the air.

“Awesome move, Tendo!” Kay called out as he sent flying another attacker with a jumping uppercut to the jaw.

Wilt was left frozen at the fight. Besides still being impressed by Kay’s Caster magic and Xan’s mastery of swords, seeing Tendo was also mesmerizing on its own way. The Florian snapped out of his stupor when he noticed that two gang members were going after Trixta.

“Ah!” Wilt shouted loud enough to be heard. “Trixta! Look out!”

“Ah crap!” Kay shouted when he realized that two gang members were going after Trixta while he was distracted fending off the rest. He brushed off his attackers and went after the ones who were charging at the vixen.

WHAP! WHAP!

The gang members who attacked Trixta were suddenly in the ground. They had a few black lashes across their body. Kay looked up and noticed that Trixta was wielding a whip.

“Whoa!” Kay was stunned by the way Trixta used her whip to defend herself.

“Just cuz I have a pretty face doesn’t mean I can’t fight a little,” Trixta winked playfully at Kay, letting him know that she was okay and could take care of herself.

“Heh, nice!” Kay grinned at the vixen. “Alright, let’s wrap this up!”

Kay grabbed one of the gang members and started swinging him around, knocking away the other members as he kept spinning around. Once all of the gang members were knocked, down, Kay let go of the one he grabbed to throw him into a pile of defeated members.

All of ‘em gathered in a single place! Kay thought with satisfaction as he cocked his arms back, casting shadows in each fist. Once he fully charged up his shadows, he rushed at the pile of defeated enemies.

“BLACK BEAK!”

He struck all of the defeated gang members with both fists, unleashing a blast of shadows that pushed them all away from Kay and his friends.

“Jeez!” Wilt was amazed by the damage that Kay caused by his finishing move.

“Dios mio!” Trixta shouted in awe at the shadow magic that Kay unleashed.

“Talk about nonstandard,” Xan was more amused than surprised than Kay and Trixta.

“Heh,” Tendo chuckled upon seeing the release of power that Kay displayed. “Yeah, that’s Kay for you.”

The gang member that showed Tendo the warrant got up from the ground, looking angry at Tendo for getting in the way.

“You…you fuckin’…this isn’t over!” the gang member threatened Tendo. “When the officers hear what you’re doing yo…”

His words were cut off when Tendo grabbed him by the collar, giving him a serious look. The gang member was filled with a sense of glare when he stared at Tendo’s eyes. He was so intimidated that he couldn’t’ say a word, letting Tendo deliver his own threat.

“You’ll do what?” Tendo challenged as he squeezed the collar higher. “Tell them you tried attacking innocent civilians and kidnap one of them? Highly doubt that…I may not be able to arrest you, but if you continue to cause trouble, I’ll personally make your time here not so lovely. Are we clear?”

Tendo dropped the gang member to the ground. To punctuate his statement, he curled his hands into fists, igniting them in flame. The message was very clear.

“Alright, alright!” the gang member stood up and spoke pleadingly. “I get it! We’re done here! We gotta go now, boys!”

The defeated gang members groaned in pain. However, feeling that they were outmatched and not wanting to get beat up further, they complied with the order. They all stood up and made their way out.

Tendo watched as every member of the Girasol Gang made their way out of the waterway. He didn’t move from the spot until he ensured that they all retreated from the place. Once they were out, Tendo was free to drop his guard down.

“Whew!” Tendo sighed in relief before facing at Kay and his group. “Glad that’s over. You guys okay?”

“Yeah,” Kay gave Tendo a thumbs up. “You already, Wilt?”

“Uhh,” Wilt stammered. “Aside from the years that got shaved off my lifespan, I think that I’m okay, Kay.”

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“Si,” Trixta nodded at Tendo gratefully. “No worse for wear.”

With his friend safe and no enemies on sight, Kay approached Tendo and hugged him, glad to see his old friend again.

“Man!” Kay exclaimed as Tendo hugged him back. “How long’s it been? You gotten taller, dude!”

“Hehe,” Tendo chuckled at the compliment. “And you clearly gotten stronger. Glad to see you, Kay.”

“Oi, who’s the chico guapo?” Trixta asked as she approached Wilt.

“Apparently, that’s Kay’s best friend from childhood,” Wilt informed her, remembering how Kay talked about him with nostalgia.

“Let’s get out of here,” Tendo stated. “I’d rather talk to you outside than inside this waterway.”

“Sure,” Kay stared at his friends and Xan. “Let’s get out of here.”

Seeing that they had no choice, the group followed Kay and Tendo out of the waterway.

“Sorry we met like this,” Kay apologized sheepishly. “I would have called ahead, but uhh…didn’t know where to call.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Tendo apologized with the same sheepish smile that Kay had. “Meant to visit, but been kinda busy.”

“It’s cool,” Kay shrugged his shoulders. “I just wanted to see ya before I left. How’s Academy junk?”

“Pretty interesting,” Tendo cheered up as he prepared to tell Kay of his time there. “Met a lot of people and learned a lot of things. The training hasn’t been easy, but I just think about the times that I trained with you and Jecht.”

The two friends then started talking about the good old days back in Mundaal.

One of the good things about living in Mundaal was how much free time one could have once the chores were done. For Kay and his friends, the best place to enjoy their free time was going at the forests in the outskirts of Mundaal to train.

Kay and Tendo were having a fist fight while their friend Jecht was watching from the sidelines.

Tendo threw several punches at Kay, who easily dodged them. Kay retaliated by blocking one of the punches, and then jumping forward at Tendo to give him a superman punch. Tendo sidestepped, barely dodging the attack. As Kay’s fist landed on the ground, Tendo attempted to kick him on the back of the head.

WHAM!

Kay’s foot struck Tendo on the stomach before the head kick could land. The Fenger did a handstand and kicked out faster than Tendo did. The blow knocked Tendo on his back while he groaned in pain and rubbed his stomach.

“Whoa!” Kay was amazed that he pulled off such a kick. “That worked! I was just wingin’t it at the end.”

“Ow,” Tendo groaned in pain.

With the fight over, Jecht left the sidelines to approach the duo. He was a lynx with black fur, yellow eyes with slit pupils, and gray hair with a shade of blue at the center.

“Alright, I think we can call it here,” Jecht declared, ending the match as he stood between the two Casters. He turned his gaze at Tendo, who was still rubbing his stomach.

“How did I do?” Tendo asked Jecht.

“I told you before Tendo, always expect the unexpected from your opponent,” Jecht lectured him. “A real pro could have a counter attack ready, even when you think they’re down, as Kay just showed you.”

“I thought I had him,” Tendo forced himself to stand up despite the pain. “At least a few times, I won against him.”

Sparring matches were common among the three friends. They all had plans for the future that required knowing how to fight. Out of the three Jecht was easily the best fighter. And although Kay and Tendo were almost equal in strength, it was Kay who was the strongest by a paper-thin margin, as their current fight and fight record proved.

“Can’t expect people to stay the same forever,” Jecht reminded him how easily the balance tipped to either of them in each of their fights. “Even this knucklehead can outpace you after practicing.”

“Hey, I won!” Kay protested angrily. “At least give me some real credit.”

“Sure, only after ya actually beat me for once,” Jecht teased Kay, making the Fenger growl in frustration at the lynx.

Contrary to Kay and Tendo, who had a mixed bag of victories and defeats, Jecht was easily the strongest of the trio. He was undefeated, never losing a match to either of them. His advice with fighting had as much impact on their development as their constant training and sparring matches against each other.

“Fine,” Kay stomped his foot angrily and took a fighting stance. “Let’s go right now! I bet I can beat ya this time!”

Jecht took a fighting stance. The two of them were about to fight when they heard Tendo groan beside them. They noticed that he got up with a look of determination on his face.

“I want to continue,” Tendo told them.

“You sure about that Tendo?” Jecht asked, noticing that Tendo was still in pain from the last kick that Kay gave him in the stomach.

“I can’t get better sitting around feeling like, like…like shit!”

Kay and Jecht widened their eyes. It was rare for Tendo to swear since he was someone with good manners. If he actually said a profanity, it was a testament of how frustrated he was with his weakness and how serious he was about getting stronger.

“Whoa!” Kay sounded impressed at his friend’s outburst. “Tendo said a bad word! You gotta be serious! Okay, let’s do it!”

“Right!” Tendo took a fighting pose.

Seeing that they were going back to training, Jecht smiled and nodded at them. With their friend giving them the signal, Kay and Tendo started sparring again, ready to get stronger by the end of the day.

“Those were the days,” Kay chuckled as they finished remembering the past.

“I do miss sparring with you,” Tendo pointed out. “The Academy has strong opponents, but they don’t fight the way that you do.”

The group finally reached outside the entrance of the waterway. Tendo walked ahead of Kay as he led the way out. Once they got out, Wilt made his way towards Tendo, which caught his attention.

“Uhh, Tendo was it?” Wilt asked, earning a nod from Tendo. “Thanks for helping me back there.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, really,” Tendo smiled at the Florian. “But I should head back before I get chewed up by the higher ups.”

“Aw, already?” Kay moaned in dismay.

“Sorry,” Tendo frowned apologetically at his old friend. “That’s how it is. It really was nice to see you again. And I am glad you’re finally starting your dream.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Kay smiled, feeling happy that the two of them were each pursuing their own childhood dreams. “Same to you. Huh? Where did Xan go?”

Wilt and Trixta widened their eyes. They looked behind and around them and then they noticed that Xan was no longer with them.

“Carajo,” Trixta groaned. “We got so distracted with chico guapo that we didn’t notice him escape.”

“We can worry about him later,” Wilt took the chance to take the time, panicking when he saw the clock. “Kay, we don’t have the time to look for Xan. Our next flight arrives in an hour.”

“And it will leave in thirty minutes,” Trixta added with the same urgency that Wilt was displaying.

“Oh,” Kay winced, remembering that they needed to leave Heartland right away. “Well shoot! We better get movin’ I guess!”

“Kay,” Tendo placed his hand on the Fenger’s shoulder. “Next time we meet, we’ll probably be enemies. I’m gonna be the best Sentinel officer I can be. I know you have your dream, one that makes you walk the path of a Reaver. But…”

“But regardless, you’re my best friend!” Kay patted Tendo on the shoulder. “All the more reason for me to work even harder. Right?”

“Right,” Tendo gave him a sad smile.

“Alright, Kay,” Trixta chimed in. “Say goodbye to Señor Guapo and let’s go!”

“We’ll move in first,” Wilt told Kay. “You can catch up when you’re done.”

“Thanks, Wilt,” Kay smiled. “Tell Trixta that I’ll catch up. I only need a minute.”

Wilt ran after Trixta. As the pair rushed to reach the Skydrome, Kay and Tendo were left alone to have a last conversation.

“You made good friends,” Tendo smiled at Kay, glad to know that he was on good hands.

“Wilt and Trixta are my team,” Kay smiled at him. “I hope that you get to know them better the next time we meet.”

The Fenger turned his back on Tendo. He only took a few steps before turning around and beaming at his old friend.

“Tendo!” Kay called out to his friend. “I don’t know where and when, but let’s meet again. Somewhere.”

Kay walked back towards Kendo and reached in with his fist. He was inviting him to do a fist bump, like back when they were kids living in Mundaal.

The gesture made Tendo remember when the two of them were kids. They were smaller, but they had the same drive to achieve their dreams. Every time that Tendo was tired from training, Kay always helped him to stand up. Kay offered a fist bump to Tendo, which he always returned.

And here they were in the present. Kay was offering his fist to bump. The gesture made Tendo smile as he realized that the rivalry between Reavers and Sentinels was not going to get in the way of their friendship.

He smiled back at Kay and bumped his fist on the Fenger’s fist.

“Yeah,” Tendo smiled at Kay. “Somewhere.”

Having reaffirmed his friendship, Kay turned around and started running in the direction of Wilt and Trixta, ready to reach the Skydrome to have his first adventure.

As expected, Kay easily caught up with Wilt and Trixta once he finished saying his goodbyes to Tendo. With the Girasol Gang members no longer chasing them for the time being, the trio made their way to the Skydrome.

Once there, they got their tickets and got their own cabin rooms. They made sure to get neighboring rooms so that each of them could enjoy their rest in private, but still be within proximity of each other. After a quick rest, they all walked out of their respective cabin rooms.

It was midday already, but the trio had enough time to recuperate from their previous ordeal.

“That was a good nap,” Wilt sighed, feeling relieved that he wasn’t being chased by the Girasol Gang for the time being.

“Goodness,” Trixta moaned in pleasure. “I forgot how nice the showers were on this ship.”

“Whew, I slept great,” Kay snored a bit. “Now I’m hungry though.”

“Man, I could go for a drink bout now.”

The fourth voice caught them by surprise. Wilt turned to Trixta, who turned to Kay, who turned around to see Xan was standing by his side.

“Huh?” Wilt’s face was frozen with fear.

“Huh?” Trixta’s face looked like she was trying to suppress a scream.

“Huh?” Kay rubbed his face to see if he wasn’t dreaming.

“Hmm?” Xan frowned in confusion, believing that the three saw something ugly. He turned around and saw that nobody was there. Then he turned to the other three and realized why they were shocked. “Oh! What’s up?”

“What are you doing here?” Wilt, Trixta, and Kay asked at the same time with a mixture of panic, annoyance, and confusion.

“Well, I didn’t want to stick around Heartland anymore,” Xan shrugged his shoulders, brushing off the outburst of the team. “Nothing for me there now. Don’t need to worry about killing the Florian anymore.”

“That doesn’t reassure me at all,” Wilt told him, still carrying a bit of trauma at having someone powerful going after him.

“Relax, Florian,” Xan closed the door to his cabin room and ignored Kay, who already had his fighting stance in case Xan tried to attack his friend. “I have bigger fishes to fry. You’re not on my target list.”

“Well, what are you plannin’ to do now?” Kay asked as he followed Xan.

Not wanting to be left alone, Trixta and Wilt followed after Kay. A part of them was also curious about what kind of plans Xan had in store for them.

“I’m going for some food and booze,” Xan told them.

“That’s it?” Wilt asked cautiously.

“Yes,” Xan nodded his head casually.

“And you expect us to believe that?” Trixta inquired further.

“Yes,” Xan rolled his eyes.

“Well, I was goin’ to the food court anyway,” Kay shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t plan on startin’ a fight there, right?”

“Don’t think that’s any of your business,” Xan led the way. “But I did try to kill ya.”

Realizing that Xan was going to tell them his plans, the group decided to follow him, hoping that it wasn’t going to involve them in the near future.

As soon as the group made their way to the tables, Wilt realized that he was going to have to pay for the meal. Kay ordered every item on the menu while Xan ordered every drink as well. And that didn’t count the normal sized meals that were ordered by him and by Trixta.

I just hope I don’t run out of money before this journey ends, Wilt thought with dismay as he imagined having to feed Kay’s constant appetite on a daily basis with his expenses.

Though he was worried about the amount of money that he was going to lose, Wilt was worried for another reason. Suffice to say, Xan’s plans for the future worried him a lot because they involved a certain person that Wild wanted to know nothing about.

“So, you’re gonna meet Girasol in person?” Wilt asked, wanting confirmation on Xan’s plan.

“Yeah,” Xan nodded his head. “I’m pretty sure Girasol is gonna have his men after me, so might as well go there and settle things.”

“You can’t be serious,” Trixta looked at Xan as if he was the dumbest man in the world. “He’s a powerful man!”

“Yeah,” Xan affirmed her claim with annoyance, as if he didn’t care how powerful Girasol was or the danger he was going to face. “And he fucked me over with no pay. Not to mention some other things he owes me. That goes against my policy. So I’d say is justified.”

“Mmmph!” Kay spoke with his mouth full. It earned annoyed glances from Wilt and Trixta for his bad eating habits, but Xan didn’t judge because he was drinking a bottle of beer in a single gulp.

“Swallow your food first before speaking, nene!” Trixta told Kay with annoyance.

“We can’t understand you if the food in your mouth obstructs your words,” Wilt added.

Kay did as he was told. He took ten seconds to chew his food and then swallow it. Then he took a drink of soda to clean up the inside of his mouth. Once he had nothing inside his mouth that would prevent his words from being muffled, he gave his proposal.

“Well, uh, why not come with us?” Kay asked Xan, who paused his drinking to stare at Kay.

“What?!” Wilt and Trixta shouted in horror.

“Yeah!” Kay smiled at them. “See, we’re heading to Gigatopolis to get some treasure! Figured you’d want to come along.”

“Why would I do that?” Xan asked as he watched Trixta and Wilt trying to cover Kay’s mouth with their hands and lecture him about keeping things secret from strangers.

“Well, you’re pretty strong,” Kay remarked as he pried Trixta’s hands from his mouth. “And you kinda owe me for tryin’ to kill me.”

He gave Xan a playful smirk as if that was a good enough argument to make him switch sides.

“Hey…” Xan gave him an annoyed look. “That hardly seems fair!”

“And I figured you need the money, right?” Kay inquired further as Trixta and Wilt stopped trying to prevent him from speaking when they realized that he was making good points.

“Uhhh…well uh,” Xan looked embarrassed as he considered his options. “I guess I could use some cash since I spent a lot back in Heartland.”

As he spoke, Xan imagined the dozens of swords that he bought and broke during his latest stay. He also imagined a mountain of beer cans and beer bottles from all the booze that he bought.

“Kay, you sure about this?” Wilt asked the Fenger as Xan was trying to figure out how much money he was going to need.

“Yeah!” Kay nodded his head at the Florian. “I mean, only for a while. That cool with you guys?”

“I suppose,” Trixta muttered as she stared at Xan.

Though she mistrusted Xan, Trixta could see that he would be a great asset. Xan was about as strong as Kay, meaning that she’d had twice the muscle to protect her.

This would increase my chances for success, Trixta nodded with a smile before staring at Wilt, hoping that the Florian wasn’t going to protest.

“Well, alright,” Wilt sighed, feeling like he was outvoted. “I guess.”

“Sweet!” Kay pumped his fists in the air. “Welcome about, Xan!”

The Fenger offered a handshake to Xan, who stared at him.

“This is only temporary though,” Xan reluctantly shook Kay’s hand, making it clear that their partnership was supposed to be a short-lived one.

“Sure, sure! Hehehe!” Kay chuckled as he shook Xan’s hand, glad to have another member on the crew. And a strong one to boot.

“Well, before we got to Gigatopolis, I need to get to work on finishing the airship at Starkland,” Wilt announced to the group, who just stared blankly at him. “That’s where we are heading towards.”

“Right,” Kay nodded his head, catching up with what Wilt told him. “We’re gonna be using that to fly there. I’m super excited. I wonder what will the ship look like.”

“You’ll know it when you see it,” Wilt smiled at Kay, also feeling excited to see the airship. “For now, let’s just relax and enjoy the trip.”

As the group made plans for their next adventure, the Skydrome Airship flew off into the distance.

Chaper 2 Act-C: End