Above them, the figure they had met before, Captain Hanzou, stood there watching over them.

A moment was needed for him to jump from the bridge and land right in front of them.

‘It seems our paths are destined to cross yet again,’ he says with laughter, muffled from behind his mask.

Out of reaction, Eto jumped in front of the rest, making sure he stood between them and Hanzou.

‘Did you really think I would target any of them? Silly boy. It is you I want,’ Hanzou says to Eto. A faint glow could be seen from underneath the armor around Hanzou’s arm before it disappeared again.

Without reacting to him, Eto kept his gaze at Hanzou.

‘I guess it is time to finish what we started. Remember our fight on Green point? Where you fled like the weakling you are,’ Hanzou said with a little frustration, as he slowly started to walk towards them.

Veronica stepped to the front, holding her hand on Eto’s shoulder.

‘You don’t have to do this. Don’t give in on his taunt.’

Eto pulled his shoulder from her hand.

‘No. It is time to settle this. For too long have our paths been interrupted because of him. And he will keep chasing us, forever. It is time to end it now,’ Eto said, with a serious look in his eyes.

‘Then we will help,’ Hawk said as he stepped beside Eto.

‘Yes,’ Djon mumbled, also taking a position.

Vanessa stepped forward, looking a little bit away at Hanzou.

Hanzou looked at her, through the faint gaze of his helmet.

‘Well, well. Morning Python. I was wondering why I didn’t get reports. It seems you are standing on the wrong side of the fight,’ Hanzou said and he slowly put his hand out, as an invitation.

Vanessa, not knowing how to react to her past getting back at her, was held back by Veronica.

‘She is standing exactly where she needs to be. With her friends,’ Veronica said, looking angrily at Hanzou, as she didn’t forget his attack on her homeplanet.

Laughter came from underneath Hanzou’s helmet.

‘Friends? With an assassin? You guys really are pathetic. Don’t be surprised when she will betray you soon. Kinds like her always get lured in by the cash.’

Hawk laughed a little bit. ‘Our problem to solve when the time comes. Not for you to lecture us about.’

Hanzou’s laughter stopped and he took a stance.

‘Fine. Then I will just start this and destroy your dear boy and be done with it.’

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‘Like we would give you a chance to,’ Veronica answered, as she readied her baton. Hanzou laughed it off and quickly snapped his fingers.

For a few moments, it was silent.

Then, the sound of footsteps came from the darkness. Metal tapping on metal.

Out of the shadows from the station, three figures, dressed in black armor came forth to stand next to Captain Hanzou. Two big knights and one slender, all holding a different weapon.

‘It seems I have to make this fight a little bit more fair,’ Hanzou said, as he drew his sword.

‘Fair is a big word, coming from you,’ Djon answered while Hanzou mocked him.

Suddenly, the darkness in the station began to whirl, as if someone or something was controlling it.

Like a little tornado, it swirled around behind Hanzou, until a figure stepped forward from the shadow.

A tall, but slender figure stepped forward, dressed in fancy clothes which had different colours, dominated by red, which were all faded.

Long pointy ears, white and black, as the face of the figure had two colors of skin, white and black on each side. A yellow eye stood out on the dark side of his face. His white hair was long, rolling all the way to the back, ending just above his legs. In his hand was a longsword, almost as long as twice Eto’s size.

A raspy yet charming voice came from the figure.

‘Now, now Hanzou. I told you to clean this up by yourself. 'Not with help,’ the figure said.

Apparently irritated, Hanzou looked back at the tall figure who stood out above him.

‘Not when they have a group. The boy is mine and mine alone.’

The figure laughed a bit, clearly entertained by what was happening.

He looked at the group and started talking to them.

‘My apologies. I haven’t even given you a proper welcome in my current home.’ The figure spread his arms wide as if he was showing the station.

‘Welcome to the ancient beast!’

‘And who might you be?’ Eto asked, still on his guard.

The figure looked at him, laughing a little bit.

"You don’t remember? Fine. I am a spectator at best, waiting for the right moment. But if you really want to know, my name is Varminaard. Known as the Dark master. A puppet of Xeladross.’

With that name, memories flashed through Eto’s head, of the creature he had encountered on Green point. The creature known as Xeladross.

‘Isn’t that?’ Djon wanted to ask and Veronica nodded, knowing what he meant.

‘Xeladross?’ Vanessa asked and Eto grabbed his head, as if his headache suddenly returned.

‘What is your plan? What are you even doing?’ Hawk yelled at Varminaard.

Hanzou wanted to answer but Varminaard stopped him.

‘Don’t worry. We won’t be mysterious about it. For some reason, the Ancient beasts hold a connection to the Last world. A connection our master wants to hold and find out about. Our job is to simply put the beast down with the darkness.’

Varminaard waved his finger as some shadows twirled around it.

‘The last world?’ Vanessa asked softly and she thought of the mural they found on Daisugi.

‘Then we have to get rid of these shadows,’ TYO said as quietly as he could, not wanting to be part of this but he didn’t want to leave his friends.

As if Hanzou heard him, he pulled up and held a giant pearl with a red colour.

‘If you want to do something about the shadows, you can’t. Only the beast itself can banish the darkness from within but it won’t wake up without this.’

Everyone looked at him, and in a few moments, Hanzou threw the orb to the floor, hoping to break it.

Almost quicker than someone could see, Eto’s legs gave off light and he jumped to the front, just in time to reach the orb and roll past Hanzou into the darkness of the station behind Hanzou and Varminaard. In that moment, instead of grabbing it, Eto had given the orb a hit, and it flew right towards Veronica who caught it.

Irritation and frustration could be heard from Hanzou, as he ordered his knights to grab the group.

‘Everyone scatter!’ Eto yelled from the darkness in which he disappeared.